' .0^ .*y;^. ^o. 








• ^^<^. 



o 

















>0 



^°^ 














^ov^ 





^^ fi o " « * <J>. 






<?^ • 












V ♦J 
' ♦^ «^ **' 

** v,^^ ^ "^y 





















V 










:'a^^^% 



'«• t 










'oK 



^P-^^. 















4? • 

































e « » Av 



* ,<^^'''^. ".^MW*" A^'^^?^ 







®^ *«^' a'^ ^ *'^ ^^^ ^-^ '-' 






«4o^ 






.^^^^. 




2, » AP ^4-^ 




The Story of Chautauqua 




Lewis Miller (1878) 



The 

Story of Chautauqua 



By 
Jesse Lymeui Hurlbut, D.D. 

Author of " The Story of the Bible," '* Teacher Training 
Lessons for the Sunday School/' etc. 




IViih 50 Illmlraliom 



G. P. Putnam's Sons 

New York and London 

^be Iknickerbocfter iptesd 

1921 



^^ 






Copyright, 192 1 

by 

Jesse L. Hurlbut 
Printed in the United States of America 




AUG 20 1921 



g)C!.A624033 



This book is dedicated to the honoured memory 
of the two Founders of Chautauqua 

Xewis /IDtllcr 

and 

Jobn 1be^l IDincent 



PREFACE 

WHY AND WHEREFORE 

An ancient writer — I forget his name — declared 
that in one of the city-states of Greece there was 
the rule that when any citizen proposed a new law 
or the repeal of an old one, he should come to the 
popular assembly with a rope around his neck, and 
if his proposition failed of adoption, he was to be 
immediately hanged. It is said that amendments 
to the constitution of that state were rarely pre- 
sented, and the people managed to live imder a 
few time-honored laws. It is possible that some 
such drastic treatment may yet be meted out to 
authors — and perhaps to publishers — as a last 
resort to check the flood of useless literature. To 
anticipate this impending constitutional amend- 
ment, it is incumbent upon every writer of a book 
to show that his work is needed by the world, and 
this I propose to do in these prefatory pages. 

Is Chautauqua great enough, original enough, 
sufficiently beneficial to the world to have its his- 
tory written? We will not accept the votes of the 

vii 



viii PREFACE 

thousands who beside the lake, in the Hall of 
Philosophy, or under the roof of the amphitheater, 
have been inoculated with the Chautauqua spirit. 
We will seek for the testimony of sane, intelligent, 
and thoughtful people, and we will be guided in our 
conclusions by their opinions. Let us listen to the 
words of the wise and then determine whether 
a book about Chautauqua should be published. 
We have the utterances by word of mouth and the 
written statements of public men, governors, 
senators, presidents; of educators, professors, and 
college presidents; of preachers and ecclesiastics 
in many churches; of speakers upon many plat- 
forms; of authors whose works are read every- 
where; and we present their testimonials as a suffi- 
cient warrant for the preparation and publication 
of The Story of Chautauqua. 

The Hon. George W. Atkinson, Governor of 
West Virginia, visited Chautauqua in 1899, ^^^ 
in his Recognition Day address on "Modern Edu- 
cational Requirements" spoke as follows: 

It (Chautauqua) is the common people's College, 
and its courses of instruction are so admirably ar- 
ranged that it somehow induces the toiling millions to 
voluntarily grapple with all subjects and with all 
knowledge. 

My Chautauqua courses have taught me that what 
we need most is only so much knowledge as we can 



PREFACE ix 

assimilate and organize into a basis for action; for if 
more be given it may become injurious. 

Chautauqua is doing more to nourish the intellects 
of the masses than any other system of education 
extant; except the public schools of the common 
country. 

Here is the testimony of ex-Governor Adolph O. 
Eberhardt of Minnesota : 

If I had the choice of being the founder of any great 
movement the world has ever known, I would choose 
the Chautauqua movement. 

The Hon. William Jennings Bryan, from the 
point of view of a speaker upon many Chautauqua 
platforms, wrote: 

The privilege and opportunity of addressing from 
one to seven or eight thousand of his fellow Americans 
in the Chautauqua frame of mind, in the mood which 
almost as clearly asserts itself under the tent or amphi- 
theater as does reverence under the *'dim, religious 
light" — this privilege and this opportunity is one of 
the greatest that any patriotic American could ask. 
It makes of him, if he knows it and can rise to its re- 
quirements, a potent human factor in molding the 
mind of the nation. 

Viscount James Bryce, Ambassador of Great 
Britain to the United States, and author of The 
American Commonwealth, the most illiuninating 



X PREFACE 

work ever written on the American system of 
government, said, while visiting Chautauqua : 

I do not think any country in the world but America 
could produce such gatherings as Chautauqua's. 

Six presidents of the United States have thought 
it worth while to visit Chautauqua, either before, 
or during, or after their term of office. These were 
Grant, Hayes, Garfield, McKinley, Roosevelt, and 
Taft. Theodore Roosevelt was at Chautauqua 
four times. He said on his last visit, in 1905, 
** Chautauqua is the most American thing in 
America ' ' ; and also : 

This Chautauqua has made the name Chautauqua 
a name of a multitude of gatherings all over the Union, 
and there is probably no other educational influence 
in the country quite so fraught with hope for the future 
of the nation as this and the movement of which it is 
the archtype. 

Let us see what some journalists and writers 
have said about Chautauqua. Here is the opinion 
of Dr. Lyman Abbott, editor of The Outlook, and a 
leader of thought in our time : 

Chautauqua has inspired the habit of reading with a 
purpose. It is really not much use to read, except as 
an occasional recreation, unless the reading inspires 
one to think his own thoughts, or at least make the 
writer's thoughts his own. Reading without reflection, 



PREFACE xi 

like eating without digestion, produces dyspepsia. 
The influence and guidance of Chautauqua will long 
be needed in America. 

The religious influence of Chautauqua has been not 
less valuable. Chautauqua has met the restless ques- 
tioning of the age in the only way in which it can be 
successfully met, by converting it into a serious seeking 
for rest in truth. ^ 

Dr. Edwin E. Slosson, formerly professor in 
Columbia University, now literary editor of the 
Independent f wrote in that paper: 

If I were a cartoonist, I should symbolize Chautau- 
qua by a tall Greek goddess, a sylvan goddess with 
leaves in her hair — not vine leaves, but oak, and tear- 
ing open the bars of a cage wherein had been con- 
fined a bird, say an owl, labeled "Learning." For 
that is what Chautauqua has done for the world — it 
has let learning loose. 

From the American Review of Reviews, July, 
1914: 

The president of a large technical school is quoted 
as having said that ten per cent, of the students in the 
institution over which he presides owe their presence 
to Chautauqua influence. A talk on civic beauty or 
sanitation by an expert from the Chautauqua platform 
often results in bringing these matters to local atten- 
tion for the first time. 

Here is an extract from The World To-day: 



xii PREFACE 

Old-time politics is dead in the States of the Middle 
West. The torchlight parade, the gasoline lamps, and 
the street orator draw but little attention. The 
' * Republican Rally ' ' in the court-house and the * * Demo- 
cratic Barbecue" in the grove have lost their potency. 
People turn to the Chautauquas to be taught politics 
along with domestic science, hygiene, and child- 
welfare. 

Mr. John Graham Brooks, lecturer on historical, 
political, and social subjects, author of works 
widely circulated and highly esteemed, has given 
courses of lectures at Chautauqua, and has ex- 
pressed his estimate in these words : 

After close observation of the work at Chautauqua, 
and at other points in the country where its affiliated 
work goes on, I can say with confidence that it is 
among the most enlightening of our educational agen- 
cies in the United States. 

Dr. A. V. V. Raymond, while President of Union 
College in New York State, gave this testimony : 

Chautauqua has its own place in the educational 
world, a place as honorable as it is distinctive; and 
those of us who are laboring in other fields, by other 
methods, have only admiration and praise for the 
great work which has made Chautauqua in the best 
sense a household word throughout the land. 

Mr. Edward Howard Griggs, who is in greater 
demand than almost any other lecturer on literary 



PREFACE 



Xlll 



^nd historical themes, in his Recognition Day 
address, in 1904, on ''Culture Through Vocation," 
said as follows : 

The Chautauqua movement as conceived by its 
leaders is a great movement for cultivating an avoca- 
tion apart from the main business of life, not only 
giving larger vision, better intellectual training, but 
giving more earnest desire and greater ability to serve 
and grow through the vocation. 

This from Dr. William T. Harris, United States 
Commissioner of Education : 

(.- 

Think of one hundred thousand persons of mature 
age following up a well-selected course of reading for 
four years in science and literature, kindling their 
torches at a central flame! Think of the millions of 
friends and neighbors of this hundred thousand made 
to hear of the new ideas and of the inspirations that 
result to the workers ! 

It is a part of the great missionary movement that 
began with Christianity and moves onward with Chris- 
tian civilization. 

I congratulate all members of Chautauqua Reading 
Circles on their connection with this great movement 
which has begun under such favorable auspices and 
has spread so widely, is already world-historical, and is 
destined to unfold so many new phases. 

Prof. Albert S. Cook, of Yale University, wrote 
in The Forum: 



xiv PREFACE 

As nearly as I can formulate it, the Chautauqua 
Idea is something like this: A fraternal, enthusiastic, 
methodical, and sustained attempt to elevate, enrich, 
and inspire the individual life in its entirety, by an 
appeal to the curiosity, hopefulness, and ambition of 
those who would otherwise be debarred from the 
greatest opportunities of culture and spiritual advance- 
ment. To this end, all uplifting and stimulating 
forces, whether secular or religious, are made to con- 
spire in their impact upon the person whose weal is 
sought. . . . Can we wonder that Chautauqua is a 
sacred and blessed name to multitudes of Americans? 

The late Principal A. M. Fairbairn, of Mansfield 
College, Oxford, foremost among the thinkers of 
the last generation, gave many lectures at Chau- 
tauqua, and expressed himself thus : 

The C. L. S. C. movement seems to me the most 
admirable and efficient organization for the direction 
of reading, and in the best sense for popular instruc- 
tion. To direct the reading for a period of years for so 
many thousands is to affect not only their present cul- 
ture, but to increase their intellectual activity for the 
period of their natural lives, and thus, among other 
things, greatly to add to the range of their enjoyment. 
It appears to me that a system which can create such 
excellent results merits the most cordial praise from all 
lovers of men. 

Colonel Francis W. Parker, Superintendent of 
Schools, first at Quincy, Mass., and later at 



PREFACE XV 

Chicago, one of the leading educators of the land, 
gave this testimony, after his visit to Chautauqua : 

■c- 

The New York Chautauqua — father and mother of 
all the other Chautauquas in the country — is one of the 
great institutions founded in the nineteenth century. 
It is essentially a school for the people. 

Prof. Hjalmar H. Boyesen, of Columbia Uni- 
versity, wrote: 

Nowhere else have I had such a vivid sense of con- 
tact with what is really and truly American. The 
national physiognomy was defined to me as never 
before; and I saw that it was not only instinct with 
intelligence, earnestness, and indefatigable aspiration, 
but that it revealed a strong affinity for all that makes 
for righteousness and the elevation of the race. The 
confident optimism regarding the future which this 
discovery fostered was not the least boon I carried 
away with me from Chautauqua. 

Mrs. Alice Freeman Palmer, President of Welles- 
ley College, expressed this opinion in a lecture at 
Chautauqua: 

I could say nothing better than to say over and over 
again the great truths Chautauqua has taught to 
everyone, that if you have a rounded, completed edu- 
cation you have put yourselves in relation with all the 
past, with all the great life of the present; you have 
reached on to the infinite hope of the future. 

I venture to say there is no man or woman educating 



xvi PREFACE 

himself or herself through Chautauqua who will not 
feel more and more the opportunity of the present 
moment in a present world. 

The character of Chautauqua's training has been 
that she has made us wiser than we were about things 
that last. 

Rev. Charles M. Sheldon, author of In His Steps y 
a story of which three million copies were sold, 
said: 

During the past two years I have met nearly a 
million people from the platform, and no audiences 
have impressed me as have the Chautauqua people for 
earnestness, deep purpose, and an honest desire to 
face and work out the great issues of American life. 

This is from the Rev. Robert Stuart MacArthur, 
the eminent Baptist preacher: 

I regard the Chautauqua Idea as one of the most 
important ideas of the hour. This idea, when properly 
utilized, gives us a ''college at home." It is a genuine 
inspiration toward culture, patriotism, and religion. 
The general adoption of this course for a generation 
would give us a new America in all that is noblest in 
culture and character. 

Dr. Edward Everett Hale, of Boston, Chaplain 
of the United States Senate, in his Tarry At Home 
Travels y wrote: 

If you have not spent a week at Chautauqua, you 
do not know your own country. There, and in no 



PREFACE xvii 

other place known to me, do you meet Baddeck and 
Newfoundland and Florida and Tiajuara at the same 
table; and there you are of one heart and one soul with 
the forty thousand people who will drift in and out — 
people all of them who believe in God and their 
country. 

More than a generation ago, the name of Joseph 
Cook was known throughout the continent as a 
thinker, a writer, and a lecturer. This is what he 
wrote of Chautauqua: 

I keep Chautauqua in a fireside nook of my inmost 
affections and prayers. God bless the Literary and 
Scientific Circle, which is so marvelously successful 
already in spreading itself as a young vine over the 
trellis-work of many lands! What rich clusters may 
ultimately hang on its cosmopolitan branches! It is 
the glory of America that it believes that all that any- 
body knows everybody should know. 

Phillips Brooks, perhaps the greatest of Ameri- 
can preachers, spoke as follows in a lecture on 
"Literature and Life" : 

May we not believe — if the students of Chautauqua 
be indeed what we have every right to expect that they 
will be, men and women thoroughly and healthily alive 
through their perpetual contact with the facts of life — 
that when they take the books which have the knowl- 
edge in them, like pure water in silver urns, though 
they will not drink as deeply, they will drink more 
healthily than many of those who in the deader and 



xviii PREFACE 

more artificial life of college halls bring no such eager 
vitality to give value to their draught? If I under- 
stand Chautauqua, this is what it means : It finds its 
value in the vitality of its students. . . . It summons 
those who are alive with true human hunger to come 
and learn of that great world of knowledge of which he 
who knows the most knows such a very little, and feels 
more and more, with every increase of his knowledge, 
how very little it is that he knows. 

Julia Ward Howe, author of the song beginning 
"Mine eyes have seen the glory," and honored 
throughout the land as one of the greatest among 
the women of America, wrote as follows : 

I am obliged for your kind invitation to be present 
at the celebration of the twenty-fifth anniversary of 
the founding of Chautauqua Assembly. As I cannot 
well allow myself this pleasure, I send you my hearty 
congratulations in view of the honorable record of your 
association. May its good work long continue, even 
until its leaven shall leaven the whole body of our 
society. 

The following letter was received by Dr. Vincent 
from one of the most distinguished of the older 
poets: 

April 29, 1882. 
J. H. Vincent, D.D., 

Dear Friend : I have been watching the progress 
of the Chautauqua Literary and Scientific Circle in- 
augurated by thyself, and take some blame to myself 
for not sooner expressing my satisfaction in regard to 



PREFACE xix 

its objects and working thus far, I wish it abundant 
success, and that its circles, like those from the agi- 
tated center of the Lake, may widen out, until our 
entire country shall feel their beneficent influences. 
I am very truly thy friend, 

John G. Whittier. 

After these endorsements, we may confidently 
affirm that a book on Chautauqua, its story, its 
principles, and its influence in the world, is war- 
ranted. 

And now, a few words of explanation as to this 
particular book. The tendency in preparing such 
a work is to make it documentary, the recital of 
programs, speakers, and subjects. In order to 
lighten up the pages, I have sought to tell the 
story of small things as well as great, the witty as 
well as the wise words spoken, the record of by- 
play and repartee upon the platform, in those days 
when Chautauqua speakers were a fraternity. In 
fact, the title by which the body of workers was 
known among its members was "the Gang." 
Some of these stories are worth preserving, and I 
have tried to recall and retain them in these pages. 

Jesse Lyman Huri.but. 

Feb. 1, 1921. 



CONTENTS 

PAGE 

Preface ....... vii 

CHAPTER 

I. — The Place 3 

II. — The Founders . . . .11 

III. — Some Primal Principles . . 27 

IV. — The Beginnings .... 38 

V. — The Early Development . . 63 

VI. — The National Centennial Year . 72 

VIL — A New Name and New Faces . 93 

VIII. — The Chautauqua Reading Circle 116 



IX. — Chautauqua All the Year . 

X. — The School of Languages . 

XI. — Hotels, Headquarters, and Hand 
shaking (1880) . 

XII. — Democracy and Aristocracy at 
Chautauqua (1881) . 

XIII. — The First Recognition Day (1882) 

XIV. — Some Stories of the C. L. S. C 

(1883, 1884) 

xxi 



141 
160 

172 

187 
196 

209 



xxii CONTENTS 

CHAPTER »AGB 

XV. — The Chaplain's Leg and Other 

True Tales (1885-1888) . . 224 

XVI. — A New Leaf in Luke's Gospel 

(1889-1892) . . . .239 

XVII. — Club Life at Chautauqua (1893- 

1896) 253 

XVIII. — Rounding out the Old Century 

( 1 897-1900) . . . .271 

XIX. — Opening the New Century (1901- 

1904) 283 

XX. — President Roosevelt at Chautau- 
qua (1905-1908) . . .295 

XXI. — The Pageant of the Past (1909- 

1912) 308 

XXII. — War Clouds and War Drums 

(1913-1916) .. . . .321 

XXIII. — War and Its Aftermath (1917- 

1920) . . . * . . .338 

XXIV. — Chautauqua's Elder Daughters . 361 

XXV. — ^Younger Daughters of Chautau- 

^ QUA 385 

Appendix . . . . . 395 

Index ...... 420 



ILLUSTRATIONS 



rAOB 



Lewis Miller . . . Facing title-pagt 


> 


John H. Vincent 


4 


Steamer in the Outlet . . . . 


8 


Old Business Block 


i6 


Old Amphitheater . . . . . 


24 


Old Auditorium 


24 


Old Guest House *'The Ark" . 


. 32 


Old Children's Temple . . -, 


. 32 


Lewis Miller Cottage 


. 40 


Bishop Vincent's Tent 


. 40 


Old Steamer "Jamestown" 


• 50 


Oriental House . . . . 


50 


Palestine Park . . . 


. 60 


Tent Life 


. 60 


Spouting Tree 


70 


Rustic Bridge 


. 76 


Amphitheater Audience . . . 


. 84 


Old Palace Hotel, etc. 


92 


Old Hall of Philosophy . 


. 100 


The Golden Gate 


. 100 



xxiu 



XXIV 



ILLUSTRATIONS 



PAGB 

Flower Girls (2 pictures) . . . .116 

Pioneer Hall . . . . . .122 

Old College Building . . . .122 

C.L.S.C. Alumni Hall . . . .130 

Chautauqua Book Store . . . .140 

Hall of the Christ . . . . .150 

Hall of Philosophy, Entrance . . .150 
Congregational House . . . .160 

Fenton Memorial . . . . .160 

Baptist Headquarters and Mission House 170 
Presbyterian Headquarters and Mission 

House 170 

Methodist Headquarters . . . . 180 
Disciples Headquarters . . . .180 
Unitarian Headquarters . . . .190 
Episcopal Chapel . . . . . 190 
Lutheran Headquarters .... 200 
United Presbyterian Chapel . . . 200 

South Ravine 220 

Muscallonge ...... 220 

Jacob Bolin Gymnasium .... 220 

Athletic Club . . . . . . 230 

Boys' Club Headed for Camp . . . 230 
Woman's Club House . . . . 240 

Rustic Bridge ...... 240 



ILLUSTRATIONS 



XXV 









PAGE 


Post Office Building .... 250 


Business and Administration 






. 250 


Golf Course 






. 260 


Sherwood Memorial . 






. 260 


Traction Station 






260 


Arts and Crafts Building 






270 


Miller Bell Tower . 






. 270 


South Gymnasium 






280 


A Corner of the Playground 






290 



The Story of Chautauqua 



The Story of Chautauqua 

CHAPTER I 

THE PLACE 

John Heyl Vincent — a name that spells Chau- 
tauqua to millions — said : *' Chautauqua is a place y 
anideaj and a force.'* Let us first of all look at the 
place, from which an idea went forth with a living 
force into the world. 

The State of New York, exclusive of Long Island, 
is shaped somewhat like a gigantic foot, the heel 
being at Manhattan Island, the crown at the St. 
Lawrence River, and the toe at the point where 
Pennsylvania touches upon Lake Erie. Near this 
toe of New York lies Lake Chautauqua. It is 
eighteen miles long besides the romantic outlet of 
three miles, winding its way through forest prime- 
val, and flowing into a shallow stream, the Chada- 
koin River, thence in succession into the Allegheny, 
the Ohio, the Mississippi, and finally resting in the 
bosom of the Gulf of Mexico. As we look at it 
upon the map, or sail upon it in the steamer, we 

3 



4 THE STORY OF CHAUTAUQUA 

perceive that it is about three miles across at its 
widest points, and moreover that it is in reality two 
lakes connected by a narrower channel, almost 
separated by two or three peninsulas. The earliest 
extant map of the lake, made by the way for 
General Washington soon after the Revolution 
(now in the Congressional Library at Washington), 
represents two separate lakes with a narrow stream 
between them. The lake receives no rivers or 
large streams. It is fed by springs beneath, and 
by a few brooks flowing into it. Consequently its 
water is remarkably pure, since none of the sur- 
roimding settlements are permitted to send their 
sewage into it. 

The surface of Lake Chautauqua is 1350 feet 
above the level of the ocean ; said to be the highest 
navigable water in the United States. This is not 
strictly correct, for Lake Tahoe on the boundary 
between Nevada and California is more than 6000 
feet above sea-level. But Tahoe is navigated only 
by motor-boats and small steamers; while Lake 
Chautauqua, having a considerable town, Mayville, 
at its northern end, Jamestown, a flourishing city 
at its outlet, and its shores fringed with villages, 
bears upon its bosom many sizable steam- vessels. 

It is remarkable that while Lake Erie falls into 
the St. Lawrence and empties into the Atlantic at 




John H. Vincent (1876) 



THE PLACE 5 

iceberg-mantled Labrador and Newfoundland, 
Lake Chautauqua only seven miles distant, and 
of more than seven hundred feet higher altitude, 
finds its resting place in the warm Gulf of Mexico. 
Between these two lakes is the watershed for this 
part of the continent. An old barn is pointed out, 
five miles from Lake Chautauqua, whereof it is 
said that the rain falling on one side of its roof runs 
into Lake Erie and the St. Lawrence, while the 
drops on the other side through a pebbly brook 
find their way by Lake Chautauqua into the 
Mississippi. 

Nobody knows, or will ever know, how this lake 
got its smooth-sounding Indian name. Some tell 
us that the word means "the place of mists"; 
others, *'the place high up"; still others that its 
form, two lakes with a passage between, gave it the 
name, "a bag tied in the middle, " or ** two mocca- 
sins tied together." Mr. Obed Edson of Chautau- 
qua County, who made a thorough search among 
old records and traditions, which he embodied in a 
series of articles in The Chautauquan in 1911-12, 
gives the following as a possible origin. A party of 
Seneca Indians were fishing in the lake and caught 
a large muskallonge. They laid it in their canoe, 
and going ashore carried the canoe over the well- 
known portage to Lake Erie. To their surprise, 



6 THE STORY OF CHAUTAUQUA 

they found the big fish still alive, for it leaped from 
the boat into the water, and escaped. Up to that 
time, it is said, no muskallonge had ever been 
caught in that lake ; but the eggs in that fish propa- 
gated their kind, until it became abundant. In the 
Seneca language, ga-jah means fish ; and ga-da-guah 
is * ' taken out ' * or as some say, * ' leaped out . ' ' Thus 
Chautauqua means "where the fish was taken 
out , " or " the place of the leaping fish. ' ' The name 
was smoothed out by the French explorers, who 
were the earliest white men in this region, to 
"Tchadakoin," still perpetuated in the stream, 
Chadakoin, connecting the lake with the Allegheny 
River. In an extant letter of George Washington, 
dated 1788, the lake is called, " Jadaqua." 

From the shore of Lake Erie, where Barcelona 
now stands, to the site of Mayville at the head of 
Lake Chautauqua ran a well-marked and often- 
followed Indian trail, over which canoes and furs 
were carried, connecting the Great Lakes with the 
river-system of the mid-continent. If among the 
red-faced warriors of those unknown ages there had 
arisen a Homer to sing the story of his race, a rival 
to the Iliad and the Nibelungen might have made 
these forests famous, for here was the border- 
land between that remarkable Indian confederacy 
of central New York, the Iroquois or Five Nations, 



THE PLACE 7 

— after the addition of the Tuscaroras, the Six 
Nations — those fierce Assyrians of the Western 
Continent who barely failed in founding an empire, 
and their antagonists the Hurons around Lake Erie. 
The two tribes confronting each other were the 
Eries of the Huron family and the Senecas of the 
Iroquois ; and theirs was a life and death struggle. 
Victory was with the Senecas, and tradition tells 
that the shores of Chautauqua Lake were illumi- 
nated by the biirning alive of a thousand Erie 
prisoners. 

It is said that the first white man to launch his 
canoe on Lake Chautauqua was Etienne Brule, a 
French voyageur. Five years before the landing 
of the Pilgrims at Plymouth, with a band of 
friendly Hurons he came over the portage from 
Lake Erie, and sailed down from Mayville to 
Jamestown, thence through the Chadakoin to the 
Allegheny and the Ohio, showing to the French 
rulers in Canada that by this route lay the path to 
empire over the continent. 

Fifteen years later, in 1630, La Salle, the indom- 
itable explorer and warrior, passed over the portage 
and down the lake to the river below. Fugitives 
from the French settlements in Nova Scotia, the 
Acadia of Longfellow's Evangeline, also passed over 
the same trail and watercourses in their search for 



8 THE STORY OF CHAUTAUQUA 

a southern home under the French flag. In 1749, 
Captain Bienville de Celoron led another company 
of pioneers, soldiers, sailors, Indians, and a Jesuit 
priest over the same route, bearing with him in- 
scribed leaden plates to be buried in prominent 
places, as tokens of French sovereignty over these 
forests and these waters. Being a Frenchman, and 
therefore perhaps inclined to gayety, he might have 
been happy if he could have foreseen that in a 
coming age, the most elaborate amusement park 
on the border of Tchadakoin (as he spelled it on 
his leaden plates) would hand down the name of 
Celoron to generations then unborn ! 

In order to make the French domination of this 
important waterway stire, Governor Duquesne of 
Canada sent across Lake Erie an expedition, land- 
ing at Barcelona, to build a rough wagon-road over 
the portage to Lake Chautauqua. Traces of this 
**old French road" may still be seen. Those 
French surveyors and toilers little dreamed that in 
seven years their work would become an English 
thoroughfare, and their empire in the new world 
would be exploited by the descendants of the 
Puritan and Huguenot ! 

During the American Revolution, the Seneca 
tribe of Indians, who had espoused the British side, 
established villages at Bemus and Griffiths points 




Steamer in the Outlet 



THE PLACE 9 

on Lake Chautauqua; and a famous British regi- 
ment,* 'The King's Eighth, " still on the rolls of the 
British army, passed down the lake, and encamped 
for a time beside the Outlet within the present 
limits of Jamestown. Thus the redskin, the voya- 
geur, and the redcoat in turn dipped their paddles 
into the placid waters of Lake Chautauqua. They 
all passed away, and the American frontiersman 
took their place ; he too was followed by the farmer 
and the vinedresser. In the last half of the nine- 
teenth century a thriving town, Mayville, was 
growing at the northern end of the lake ; the city of 
Jamestown was rising at the end of the Outlet; 
while here and there along the shores were villages 
and hamlets ; roads, such as they were before the 
automobile compelled their improvement, threaded 
the forests and fields. A region situated on the 
direct line of travel between the east and the west, 
and also having Buffalo on the north and Pitts- 
burgh on the south, could not long remain secluded. 
Soon the whistle of the locomotive began to wake 
the echoes of the surrounding hills. 

In its general direction the lake lies southeast 
and northwest, and its widest part is about three 
miles south of Mayville. Here on its northwestern 
shore a wide peninsula reaches forth into the water. 
At the point it is a level plain, covered with stately 



10 THE STORY OF CHAUTAUQUA 

trees ; on the land side it rises in a series of nattiral 
terraces marking the altitude and extent of the 
lake in prehistoric ages; for the present Chautau- 
qua Lake is only the shrunken hollow of a vaster 
body in the geologic periods. In the early 'seventies 
of the last century this peninsula was known as 
Fair Point; but in a few years, baptized with a 
new name Chautauqua, it was destined to make 
the little lake famous throughout the world and to 
entitle an important chapter in the history of 
education. 



CHAPTER II 

THE FOUNDERS 

Every idea which becomes a force in the world 
has its primal origin in a living man or woman. 
It drops as a seed into one mind, grows up to fruit- 
age, and from one man is disseminated to a multi- 
tude. The Chautauqua Idea became incarnate in 
two men, John Heyl Vincent and Lewis Miller, 
and by their coordinated plans and labors made 
itself a mighty power. Let us look at the lives of 
these two men, whose names are ever one in the 
minds of intelligent Chautauquans. 

John Heyl Vincent was of Huguenot ancestry. 
The family came from the canton of Rochelle, a 
city which was the Protestant capital of France 
in the period of the Reformation. From this 
vicinity Levi Vincent (born 1676), a staunch Protes- 
tant, emigrated to America in the persecuting days 
of Louis XIV., and settled first at New Rochelle, 
N. Y., later removed to New Jersey, and died there 
in 1736. For several generations the family lived 
in New Jersey; but at the time of John Heyl Vin- 

II 



12 THE STORY OF CHAUTAUQUA 

cent's birth on February 23, 1832, his father, 
John Himrod Vincent, the great-great-grandson of 
the Huguenot refugee, was dweUing at Tuscaloosa, 
Alabama. Dr. Vincent used to say that he began 
his ministry before he was six years old, preaching 
to the little negroes around his home. The family 
moved during his early childhood to a farm near 
Lewisburg, Pa., on Chillisquasque Creek, where at 
the age of fifteen he taught in the pubHc school. 

When not much above sixteen he was licensed as 
a local preacher in the Methodist Episcopal Church. 
He soon became a junior preacher on a four weeks' 
circuit along the Lehigh River, which at that time 
seems to have been in the bounds of the old Balti- 
more Conference. He rode his circuit on horseback, 
with a pair of saddlebags behind him, and boarded 
'round among his parishioners. His saintly mother, 
of whose character and influence he always spoke 
in the highest reverence, died at this time, and 
soon after he went to visit relatives in Newark, 
N. J. There he served as an assistant in the city 
mission, and at the same time studied in the 
Wesleyan Academy on High Street. A fellow 
student, who became and continued through a 
long life one of his most intimate friends, the Rev. 
George H. Whitney, said that young Vincent 
differed from most of his classmates in his eager 



THE FOUNDERS 13 

desire for education, his appetite for book-knowl- 
edge leading him to read almost every volume that 
came his way, and his visions, then supposed to be 
mere dreams, of plans for the intellectual uplift of 
humanity. It was his keenest sorrow that he could 
not realize his intense yearning for a course in 
college; but perhaps his loss in youth became a 
nation's gain in his maturer years. 

In 1853 he was received formally as a member 
*'on trial" in the New Jersey Conference, at that 
time embracing the entire State. His first charge 
as pastor was at North Belleville, later known as 
Franklin, now Nutley, where a handsome new 
church bears his name and commemorates his early 
ministry. His second charge was at a small suburb 
of Newark, then called Camptown, now the thriv- 
ing borough of Irvington. His ministry from the 
beginning had been marked by an interest in child- 
hood and youth, and a strong effort to strengthen 
the work of the Sunday School. At Camptown he 
established a definite course of Bible teaching for 
teachers and young people. Near the church he 
staked out a map of Palestine, marked its moun- 
tains and streams, its localities and battlefields, 
and led his teachers and older scholars on pilgrim- 
ages from Dan to Beersheba, pausing at each of the 
sacred places while a member of the class told its 



14 THE STORY OF CHAUTAUQUA 

stoiy. The lessons of that Palestine Class, taught 
on the peripatetic plan in the fifties, are still in 
print, showing the requirements for each successive 
grade of Pilgrim, Resident in Palestine, Dweller 
in Jerusalem, Explorer of other Bible Lands, and 
after a final and searching examination, Templar, 
wearing a gold medal. At each of his pastoral 
charges after this, he conducted his Palestine 
Class and constructed his outdoor map of the 
Holy Land. May we not find here the germ des- 
tined to grow into the Palestine Park of the 
Chautauqua Assembly? 

After four years in New Jersey young Vincent 
was transferred in 1857 to Illinois, where in succes- 
sion he had charge of four churches, beginning with 
Joliet, where he met a young lady teacher, Miss 
Elizabeth Dusenbury, of Portville, N. Y., who 
became his wife, and in the after years by her warm 
heart, clear head, and wise judgment greatly con- 
tributed to her husband's success. He was a year 
at Mount Morris, the seat of the Rock River Con- 
ference Seminary, at which he studied while pastor 
in the community. For two years, i860 and *6i, 
he was at Galena, and found in his congregation a 
quiet ex-army officer, named Ulysses S. Grant, who 
afterward said when introducing him to President 
Lincoln, *'Dr. Vincent was my pastor at Galena, 



THE FOUNDERS 15 

111., and I do not think that I missed one of his 
sermons while I lived there." Long after the Civil 
War days Bishop Vincent expressed in some auto- 
biographical notes his estimate of General Grant. 
He wrote : ** General Grant was one of the loveliest 
and most reverent of men. He had a strong will 
under that army overcoat of his, but he was the 
soul of honor and as reverent as he was brave." 
After two years at Rockford — two years having 
been until 1864 the limit for a pastorate in Ameri- 
can Methodism — in 1865 he was appointed to 
Trinity Church, Chicago, then the most important 
church of his denomination in that city. 

Chicago opened the door of opportunity to a 
wider field. The pastor of Trinity found in that 
city a group of young men, enthusiasts in the 
Sunday School, and progressive in their aims. Dr. 
Vincent at once became a leader among them and 
by their aid was able to introduce a Uniform 
Lesson in the schools of the city. He established 
in 1865 a Sunday School Quarterly ^ which in the 
following years became the Sunday School Teacher ^ 
in its editorials and its lesson material setting a 
new standard for Sunday School instruction. His 
abilities were soon recognized by the authorities in 
his church, and he was called to New York to 
become first General Agent of the Sunday School 



i6 THE STORY OF CHAUTAUQUA 

Union, the organization directing Methodist Epis- 
copal Sunday Schools throughout the world, and in 
1868, secretary and editor. He organized and set 
in circulation the Berean Uniform Lessons for his 
denomination, an important link in the chain of 
events which in 1873 made the Sunday School 
lessons uniform throughout America and the world. 
It is the fashion now to depreciate the Uniform 
Lesson Plan as unpedagogic and unpsychologic; 
but its inauguration was the greatest forward step 
ever taken in the evolution of the Sunday School ; 
for it instituted systematic study of the Bible, and 
especially of the Old Testament ; it brought to the 
service of the teacher the ablest Bible scholars on 
both sides of the Atlantic ; it enabled the teachers 
of a school, a town, or a city to unite in the prepara- 
tion of their lessons. Chicago, New York, Brook- 
lyn, Boston, and many other places soon held study- 
classes of Sunday School teachers, of all grades, 
of a thousand or more gathered on a week-day to 
listen to the lectures of great instructors. The 
Plainfield (N. J.) Railroad Class was not the only 
group of Sunday School workers who spent their 
hour on the train passing to and from business in 
studying together their Sunday School lesson. 

Soon after Dr. Vincent assumed the charge of 
general Sunday School work, having his office in 




o 
o 

O 

<2 

a 

o 

o 

pq 

a> 
w 

el 

pp 



THE FOUNDERS 17 

New York, he took up his residence in Plainfield, 
N. J., a suburban city which felt his influence and 
responded to it for twenty years. Having led the 
way to one summit in his ideals, he saw other 
mountain-heights beyond, and continually pointed 
his followers upward. When he succeeded to the 
editorship of the Sunday School Journal, the 
teachers' magazine of his church, he found a circu- 
lation of about five thousand. With the Uniform 
Lesson, and his inspiring editorials, it speedily rose 
to a hundred thousand, and a few years later to 
two hundred thousand subscribers, while his lesson 
leaves and quarterlies went into the millions. With 
voice — that wonderful, awakening, thrilling voice 
— and with a pen on fire, he appealed everywhere 
for a training that should fit Sunday School 
teachers for their great work. He established in 
many places the Normal Class, and marked out a 
course of instruction for its students. This was 
the step which led directly to the Chautauqua 
Assembly, which indeed made some such institu- 
tion a necessity. 

The Normal Class proposed a weekly meeting of 
Sunday School teachers or of young people seeking 
preparation for teaching, a definite course of study, 
examinations at regular stages, and a diploma to 
those who met its standards. Dr. Vincent con- 



1 8 THE STORY OF CHAUTAUQUA 

ceived the plan of bringing together a large body of 
teacher-students, who should spend at least a fort- 
night in daily study, morning and afternoon, and 
thus accomplish more work than in six months of 
weekly meetings. He aimed also to have lectures 
on inspiring themes, with a spice of entertainment 
to impart variety. While this ideal was rising 
before him and shaping in his mind, he found a 
kindred spirit, a genius in invention, and a prac- 
tical, wise business man whose name was destined 
to stand beside his own in equal honor wherever 
and whenever Chautauqua is named — Lewis 
Miller of Akron, Ohio, the first and until his death 
in 1899 the only president of Chautauqua. 

Lewis Miller was born on July 24, 1829, at Green- 
town, Ohio. He received in his childhood the 
limited education in "the three R's — treading, 
*riting and Arithmetic, " usual in the country school; 
and at the age of sixteen was himself a school 
teacher. In 1849, twenty years old, he began work 
at the plastering trade, but at the same time was 
attending school. He became a partner in the 
manufacturing firm of Aultman, Ball and Co., 
which soon became Aultman, Miller and Co., and 
was removed from Greentown to Canton, Ohio. 
Here, about 1857, Mr. Miller invented and put 
into successful operation the Buckeye Mower and 



THE FOUNDERS 19 

Reaper, which made him famous, and with other 
inventions brought to him a fortune. His home 
was for many years, and until his death, at Akron. 
From his earliest years he was interested in educa- 
tion, and especially in education through the 
Sunday School. He became Sunday School Super- 
intendent of the First Methodist Episcopal Church 
in Akron, and made it more than most of the Sun- 
day Schools in that generation a school^ and not 
merely a meeting for children. He organized a 
graded system and required his pupils to pass from 
grade to grade through the door of an examination 
in Bible knowledge. He was one of the earliest 
Sunday School superintendents to organize a 
Normal Class for the equipment and training of 
young people for teaching in his school. At a 
certain stage in the promotions every young man 
and young woman passed one year or two years in 
the Normal Grade; for which he arranged the 
course until one was provided by Dr. Vincent after 
he became Secretary of Sunday School work for 
the denomination in 1868; and in the planning of 
that early normal course, Mr. Miller took an active 
part, for he met in John H. Vincent one who, like 
himself, held inspiring ideals for the Sunday School, 
and the two leaders were often in consultation. 
It was an epoch in the history of the American 



20 THE STORY OF CHAUTAUQUA 

Sunday School when Mr. Miller built the first 
Sunday School hall in the land according to a plan 
originated by himself; its architectural features 
being wrought out under his direction by his fellow- 
townsman and friend, Mr. Jacob Snyder, an 
architect of distinction. In this building, then 
unique but now followed by thousands of churches, 
there was a domed central assembly hall, with 
rooms radiating from it in two stories, capable of 
being open during the general exercises, but closed 
in the lesson period so that each class could be 
alone with its teacher while studying. 

Mr. Miller was also interested in secular educa- 
tion, was for years president of the Board of Educa- 
tion in Akron, always aiming for higher standards 
in teaching. He was also a trustee of Moimt Union 
College in his own State. Two men such as Vin- 
cent and Miller, both men of vision, both leaders 
in education through the Sunday School, both aim- 
ing to make that institution more efficient, would 
inevitably come together; and it was fortunate 
that they were able to work hand in hand, each 
helping the other. 

These two men had thoughts of gatherings of 
Sunday School workers, not in conventions, to 
hear reports and listen to speeches, not to go for 
one-day or two- or three-day institutes, but to 



THE FOUNDERS 21 

spend weeks together in studying the Bible and 
methods of Sunday School work. They talked over 
their plans, and they found that while they had 
much in common in their conception each one 
could supplement the other in some of the details. 
It had been Dr. Vincent's purpose to hold his 
gathering of Sunday School workers and Bible 
students within the walls of a large church, in some 
city centrally located and easily reached by rail- 
road. He suggested to Mr. Miller that his new 
Sunday School building, with its many classrooms 
opening into one large assembly hall, would be a 
suitable place for launching the new enterprise. 

One cannot help asking the question — what 
would have been the result if Dr. Vincent's pro- 
posal had been accepted, and the first Sunday 
School Assembly had been held in a city and a 
church? Surely the word ** Chautauqua " would 
never have appeared as the name of a new and 
mighty movement in education. Moreover, it is 
almost certain that the movement itself would 
never have arisen to prominence and to power. 
It is a noteworthy fact that no Chautauqua As- 
sembly has ever succeeded, though often attempted, 
in or near a large city. One of the most striking 
and drawing features of the Chautauqua move- 
ment has been its out-of-doors and in-the-woods 



22 THE STORY OF CHAUTAUQUA 

habitat. The two founders did not dream in those 
days of decision that the fate of a great educational 
system was hanging in the balance. 

An inspiration came to Lewis Miller to hold the 
projected series of meetings in a forest, and under 
the tents of a camp meeting. Camp meetings had 
been held in the United States since 1799, when 
the first gathering of this name took place in a 
grove on the banks of the Red River in Kentucky 
led by two brothers McGee, ,,one a Presbyterian, 
the other a Methodist. In those years churches 
were few and far apart through the hamlets and 
villages of the west and south. The camp meeting 
brought together great gatherings of people who 
for a week or more listened to sermons, held almost 
continuous prayer meetings, and called sinners to 
repentance. The interest died down somewhat in 
the middle of the nineteenth century, but following 
the Civil War, a wave of enthusiasm for camp 
meetings swept over the land. In hundreds of 
groves, east and west, land was purchased or leased, 
lots were sold, tents were pitched, and people by 
the thousand gathered for soul-stirring services. 
In one of the oldest and most successful of these 
camp meetings, that on Martha's Vineyard, tents 
had largely given place to houses, and a city had 
arisen in the forest. This example had been fol- 



THE FOUNDERS 23 

lowed, and on many camp-meeting grounds houses 
of a primitive sort straggled around the open circle 
where the preaching services were held. Most of 
these buildings were mere sheds, destitute of 
architectural beauty, and innocent even of paint 
on their walls of rough boards. Many of these 
antique structures may still be seen at Chautau- 
qua, survivals of the camp-meeting period, in 
glaring contrast with the more modern summer 
homes beside them. 

At first Dr. Vincent did not take kindly to the 
thought of holding his training classes and their 
accompaniments in any relationship to a camp 
meeting or even upon a camp ground. He was not 
in sympathy with the type of religious life mani- 
fested and promoted at these gatherings. The fact 
that they dwelt too deeply in the realm of emotion 
and excitement, that they stirred the feelings to 
the neglect of the reasoning and thinking faculties, 
that the crowd called together on a camp-meeting 
ground would not represent the sober, sane, 
thoughtful element of church life — all these re- 
pelled Dr. Vincent from the camp meeting. 

Mr. Miller had recently become one of the trus- 
tees of a camp meeting held at Fair Point on Lake 
Chautauqua, and proposed that Dr. Vincent 
should visit the place with him. Somewhat un- 



24 THE STORY OF CHAUTAUQUA 

willingly, yet with an open mind, Vincent rode 
with Miller by train to Lakewood near the foot of 
the lake, and then in a small steamer sailed to 
Fair Point. A small boy was with them, sitting 
in the prow of the boat, and as it touched the 
wharf he was the first of its passengers to leap 
on the land — and in after years, George Edgar 
Vincent, LL.D., was wont to claim that he, at the 
mature age of nine years, was the original dis^ 
coverer of Chautauqua ! 

It was in the summer of 1873, soon after the 
fourth session of the Erie Conference Camp Meet- 
ing of the Methodist Episcopal Church, that Dr. 
Vincent came, saw, and was conquered. His nor- 
mal class and its subsidiary lectures and enter- 
tainments should be held under the beeches, oaks, 
and maples shading the terraced slopes rising up 
from Lake Chautauqua. 

A lady who had attended the camp meeting in 
1 87 1, its second session upon the grounds at Fair 
Point, afterward wrote her first impressions of the 
place. She said that the superintendent of the 
grounds, Mr. Pratt (from whom an avenue at 
Chautauqua received its name some years after- 
ward), told her that until May, 1870, "the sound of 
an axe had not been heard in those woods." This 
lady (Mrs. Kate P. Bruch) wrote: 




u 

(U 

a 
6 

o 

■*-> 
I— I 

o 




in 

<5 



THE FOUNDERS 25 

Many of the trees were immense in size, and in all 
directions, from the small space occupied by those 
who were tenting there, we could walk through seas of 
nodding ferns; while everywhere through the forest 
was a profusion of wild flowers, creeping vines, mur- 
muring pine, beautiful mosses and lichens. The lake 
itself delighted us with its lovely shores; where either 
highly cultivated lands dotted with farmhouses, or 
stretches of pine forest, met on all sides the cool, clear 
water that sparkled or danced in the sunlight, or gave 
subdued but beautiful reflection of the moonlight. 
We were especially charmed with the narrow, tortuous 
outlet of the lake— then so closely resembling the 
streams of tropical climes. With the trees pressing 
closely to the water's edge, covered with rich foliage, 
tangled vines clinging and swaying from their branches ; 
and luxuriant undergrowth, through which the bright 
cardinal flowers were shining, it was not difficult to 
fancy one's self far from our northern clime, sailing 
over water that never felt the cold clasp of frost and 
snow. 

The steamers winding their way through the 
romantic outlet were soon to be laden with new 
throngs looking for the first time upon forest, 
farms, and lake. Those ivy-covered and moss- 
grown terraces of Fair Point were soon to be 
trodden by the feet of multitudes; and that camp- 
meeting stand from which fervent appeals to re- 
pentance had sounded forth, to meet responses of 
raptured shouts from saints, and cries for mercy 



26 THE STORY OF CHAUTAUQUA 

from seekers, was soon to become the arena for 
religious thought and aspiration of types con- 
trasted with those of the camp meeting of former 
years. 



CHAPTER III 

-I'-tU- 

I 



SOME PRIMAL PRINCIPLES '""^ 



We have looked at the spot chosen for this new 
movement, and we have become somewhat ac- 
quainted with its two leaders. Let us now look at 
its foundations, and note the principles upon which 
it was based. We shall at once perceive that the 
original plans of the Fair Point Assembly were 
very narrow in comparison with those of Chau- 
tauqua to-day. Yet those aims were of such a 
nature, like a Gothic Church, as would readily 
lend themselves to enlargement on many sides, 
and only add to the unique beauty of the structure. 

In this chapter we are not tmdertaking to set 
forth the Chautauqua Idea, as it is now realized — 
education for everybody, everywhere, and in every 
department of knowledge, inspired by a Christian 
faith. Whatever may have been in the mind of 
either founder, this wide-reaching aim was not in 
those early days made known. Both Miller and 
Vincent were interested in education, and each of 
them felt his own lack of college training, but 

27 



28 THE STORY OF CHAUTAUQUA 

during the first three or four years of Chautauqua*s 
history all its aims were in the line of religious 
education through the Sunday School. We are 
not to look for the traits of its later development, 
in those primal days. Ours is the story of an evolu- 
tion, and not a philosophical treatise. 

The first assembly on Chautauqua Lak e was 
held under the sanction and direction of the gov- 
erning Simday School Board of the Methodist 
Episcopal Church, by resolution of the Board in 
New York at its meeting in October, 1873, in re- 
sponse to a request from the executive committee 
of the Chautauqua Lake Camp Ground Associa- 
tion, and upon the recommendation of Dr. Vincent, 
whose official title was Corresponding Secretary of 
the Simday School Union of the Methodist Epis- 
copal Church. The Normal Committee of the 
Union was charged with the oversight of the 
projected meetings; Lewis Miller was appointed 
President, and John H. Vincent, Superintendent 
of Instruction. 

Although held upon a camp ground and inherit- 
ing some of the camp-meeting opportunities, the 
gathering was planned to be unlike a camp meet- 
ing in its essential features, and to reach a con- 
stituency outside that of the camp ground. Its 
name was a new one, "The Assembly," and its 



SOME PRIMAL PRINCIPLES 29 

sphere was announced to be that of the Sunday 
School. There was to be a definite and carefully 
prepared program of a distinctly educational cast, 
with no opening for spontaneous, go-as-you-please 
meetings to be started at any moment. This was 
arranged to keep a quietus on both the religious 
enthusiast and the wandering Sunday School ora- 
tor who expected to make a speech on every 
occasion. On my first visit to Fair Point — ^which 
was not in ^74 but in '75 — I found a prominent 
Sunday School talker from my own State, grip- 
sack in hand, leaving the ground. He explained, 
**This is no place for me. They have a cut-and- 
dried program, and a fellow can't get a word in 
anywhere. I*m going home. Give me the conven- 
tion where a man can speak if he wants to." 

In most of the camp meetings, but not in all, 
Sunday was the great day, a picnic on a vast scale, 
bringing hundreds of stages, carryalls, and wagons 
from all quarters, special excursion trains loaded 
with visitors, fleets of boats on the lake or river, 
if the ground could be reached by water route. 
No doubt some good was wrought. Under the 
spell of a stirring preacher some were turned from 
sin to righteousness. But much harm was also 
done, in the emptying of churches for miles around, 
the bringing together of a horde of people intent on. 



30 THE STORY OF CHAUTAUQUA 

pleasure, and utter confusion taking the place of 
a sabbath-quiet which should reign on a ground 
consecrated to worship. Against this desecration 
of the holy day, Miller and Vincent set themselves 
firmly. As a condition of accepting the invitation 
of the Camp Meeting Association to hold the pro- 
posed Assembly at Fair Point, the gates were to be 
absolutely closed against all visitors on Sunday; 
and notice was posted that no boats would be 
allowed to land on that day at the Fair Point pier. 
In those early days everybody came to Fair Point 
by boat. There was indeed a back-door entrance 
on land for teams and foot passengers; but few 
entered through it. In these modern days of elec- 
tricity, now that the lake is girdled with trolley 
lines, and a hundred automobiles stand parked 
outside the gates, the back door has become the 
front door, and the steamboats are comparatively 
forsaken. 

In addition to the name Assembly, the exact 
order of exercises, and the closed ground on Sun- 
day, there was another startling departure from 
camp-meeting usages — a gate fee. The overhead 
expenses of a camp meeting were comparatively 
light. Those were not the days when famous 
evangelists like Sam Jones and popular preachers 
such as DeWitt Talmage received two hundred 



SOME PRIMAL PRINCIPLES 31 

dollars for a Sunday sermon. Board and keep were 
the rewards of the ministers, and the "keep" was 
a bunk in the preachers* tent. The needed funds 
were raised by collections, which though nominally 
"voluntary" were often obtained under high- 
pressure methods. But the Assembly, with well- 
known lecturers, teachers of recognized ability, and 
the necessary nation-wide advertising to awaken 
interest in a new movement would of necessity be 
expensive. How should the requisite dollars by 
the thousand be raised? The two heads of the 
Assembly resolved to dispense with the collections, 
and have a gate fee for all comers. Fortunately 
the Fair Point grounds readily lent themselves to 
this plan, for they were already surrounded on 
three sides by a high picket-fence, and only the 
small boys knew where the pickets were loose, and 
they didn't tell. 

The Sunday closing and the entrance charge 
raised a storm of indignation all around the lake. 
The steamboat owners — ^in those days there were 
no steamer corporations; each boat big or little, 
was owned by its captain — the steamboat owners 
saw plainly that Sunday would be a "lost day" 
to them if the gates were closed ; and the thousands 
of visitors to the camp meeting who had squeezed 
out a dime, or even a penny, when the basket went 



32 THE STORY OF CHAUTAUQUA 

arotind, bitterly complained outside the gates at a 
quarter for daily admission, half of what they had 
cheerfully handed over when the annual circus 
came to town. During the fir st Assembly in 1874, 
the gatekeepers needed all their patience and 
politeness to restrain some irate visitors from 
coming to blows over the infringement of their 
right to free entrance upon the Fair Point Camp 
Ground. There were holders of leases upon lots 
who expected free entrance for themselves and 
their families — and "family" was stretched to 
include visitors. Then there were the preachers 
who could not comprehend why they should buy 
a ticket for entrance to the holy grotind! The 
financial and restrictive regulations were left 
largely to Lewis Miller, who possessed the suaviter 
in modo so graciously that many failed to realize 
imderneath it the Jortiter in re. Behind that 
smiling countenance of the President of Chautau- 
qua was an uncommonly stiff backbone. Rules 
once fixed were kept in the teeth of opposition from 
both sinners and saints. 

Let me anticipate some part of our story by 
saying that at the present time there are from six 
to eight hundred all-the-year residents upon 
Chautauqua grounds. Before the Assembly opens 
on Tuly ist. every family must obtain season 




di 
H 

03 
0) 

u 
O 

o 




J4 
< 



CO 

m 

0) 

O 






SOME PRIMAL PRINCIPLES 33 

tickets to the public exercises for all except the very 
youngest members and bedridden invalids. A 
lease upon Chautauqua property does not entitle 
the holder to admission to the grounds. If he 
owns an automobile, it must be parked outside, 
and cannot be brought through the gates without 
the payment of an entrance fee, and an officer 
riding beside the chauffeur to see that in Chau- 
tauqua's narrow streets and thronged walks all 
care is taken against accident. The only excep- 
tion to this rule is in favor of physicians who are 
visiting patients within the enclosure. 

The catholicity of the plans for the first Assembly 
must not be forgotten. Both its founders were 
members of the Methodist Episcopal Church and 
loyal to. its institutions. But they were also be- 
lievers in and members of the Holy Catholic 
Church, the true church of Christ on earth, wherein 
every Christian body has a part. They had no 
thought to ignore the various denominations, but 
aimed to make every follower of Christ at home. 
Upon the program appeared the names of men 
eminent in all the chtu-ches ; and it was a felicitous 
thought to hold each week on one evening the 
prayer meetings of the several churches, each by 
itself, also to plan on one afternoon in different 
places on the groimd, for denominational con- 



34 THE STORY OF CHAUTAUQUA 

ferences where the members of each church could 
freely discuss their own problems and provide for 
their own interests. This custom established at 
the first assembly has become one of the traditions 
of Chautauqua. Every Wednesday evening, from 
seven to eight, is assigned for denominational 
prayer meetings, and on the second Wednesday 
afternoon in August, two hours are set apart for 
the Denominational Conferences. The author of 
this volume knows something about one of those 
meetings; for year after year it has brought him to 
his wit*s end, to provide a program that will not 
be a replica of the last one, and then sometimes, to 
persuade the conferences to confer. But if a list 
were made of the noble names that have taken 
part in these gatherings, it wotild show that the 
interdenominational plan of the founders has been 
justified by the results. It is a great fact that for 
nearly fifty years the loyal members of almost 
every church in the land have come together at 
Chautauqua, all in absolute freedom to speak 
their minds, yet with never the least friction or 
controversy. And this relation was not one of an 
armed neutrality between bodies in danger of 
breaking out into open war. It did not prevent a 
good-natured raillery on the Chautauqua plat- 
form between speakers of different denominations. 



SOME PRIMAL PRINCIPLES 35 

If anyone had a joke at the expense of the Baptists 
or the Methodists or the Presbyterians, he never 
hesitated to tell it before five thousand people, 
even with the immediate prospect of being de^ 
molished by a retort from the other side. 

A conversation that occurred at least ten years 
after me session of '74 belongs here logically, if not 
chronologically. A tall, long-coated minister 
whose accent showed his nativity in the southern 
mountain-region said to me, "I wish to inquire, 
sir, what is the doctrinal platform of this 
assembly." "There is none, so far as I know," I 
answered. "You certainly do not mean, sir,'* 
he responded, "that there is not an understanding 
as to the doctrines allowed to be taught on this 
platform. Is there no statement in print of the 
views that must or must not be expressed by the 
different speakers?" "I never heard of any," I 
said, "and if there was such a statement I think 
that I should know about it." "What, sir, is 
there to prevent any speaker from attacking the 
doctrines of some other church, or even from 
speaking against the fundamental doctrines of 
Christianity?" "Nothing in the world," I said, 
"except that nobody at Chautauqua ever wishes 
to attack any other Christian body. If anyone 
did such a thing, I don't believe that it would be 



36 THE STORY OF CHAUTAUQUA 

thought necessary to disown or even to answer 
him. But I am quite certain that it would be his 
last appearance on the Chautauqua platform." 

(In this chapter I have sought to point out the 
foundation stones of Chautauqua, as they were 
laid nearly half a century ago. Others were placed 
later in the successive years; but these were the 
original principles, and these have been maintained 
for more than a generation. Let us fix th em in 
memory bv a restatement and an enumerati on. 
First, Chautauqua, now an institution for general 
and popular education, began in the department of 
religion as taught in the Sunday School. Second, 
it was an out-of-doors school, held in the forest, 
blazing the way and setting the pace of summer 
schools in the open air throughout the nation and 
the world. Third , although held upon a camp- 
meeting ground it was widely different in aim and 
method, spirit and clientele from the old-fashioned 
camp meeting. Fourth, it maintained the sanctity 
of the Sabbath, closed its gates, and frowned upon 
every attempt to secularize or commercialize the 
holy day, or to make it a day of pleasure. Fifth, 
the enterprise was supported, not by collections 
at its services, or by contributions from patrons, 
but by a fee upon entrance from every comer. 
Sixth, it was to represent not one branch of the 



SOME PRIMAL PRINCIPLES 37 

church, but to bring together all the churches in 
acquaintance and friendship, to promote, not 
church union, but church unity. And seventh, 
let it be added that it was to be in no sense a money- 
making institution. There were trustees but no 
stockholders, and no dividends. If any funds re- 
mained after paying the necessary expenses, they 
were to be used for improvement of the grounds 
or the enlargement of the program. Upon these 
foundations Chautauqua has stood and has grown 
to greatness. 



CHAPTER IV 

THE BEGINNINGS 

But let us come to the opening session of the 
Assembly, destined to greater fortune and fame 
than even its founders at that time dreamed. It 
was named "The Sunday School Teachers* As- 
sembly," for the wider field of general education 
then lay only in the depths of one founder's mind. 
For the sake of history, let us name the officers of 
this first Assembly. They were as follows : 

Chairman — Lewis Miller, Esq., of Akron, Ohio. 
Department of Instruction — Rev. John H. Vincent, 

D.D., of New York. 
Department of Entertainment — Rev. R. W. Scott, 

Mayville, N. Y. 
Department of Supplies — J. E. Wesener, Esq., Akron, 

Ohio. 
Department of Order — Rev. R. M. Warren, Fredonia, 

N.Y. 
Department of Recreation — Rev. W. W. Wythe, 

M.D., Meadville, Pa. 
Sanitary Department — ^J. C. Stubbs, M.D., Corry, 

Pa. 

38 



THE BEGINNINGS 39 

The property of the Camp Meeting Association, 
leased for the season to the Assembly, embraced 
less than one fourth of the present dimensions of 
Chautauqua, even without the golf course and 
other property outside the gates. East and west it 
extended as it does now from the Point and the 
Pier to the public highway. But on the north 
where Kellogg Memorial Hall now stands was the 
boundary indicated by the present Scott Avenue, 
though at that time unmarked. The site of Nor- 
mal Hall and all north of it were outside the fence. 
And on the south its boundary was the winding 
way of Palestine Avenue. The ravine now covered 
by the Amphitheater was within the bounds, but 
the site of the Hotel Athenaeum was without the 
limit. 

He who rambles around Chautauqua in our day 
sees a number of large, well-kept hotels, and many 
inns and "cottages" inviting the visitor to com- 
fortable rooms and bountiful tables. But in those 
early days there was not one hotel or boarding- 
house at Fair Point. Tents could be rented, and a 
cottager might open a room for a guest, but it was 
forbidden to supply table board for pay. Every- 
body, except such as did their own cooking, ate 
their meals at the dining-hall, which was a long 
tabernacle of rough unpainted boards, with a 



40 THE STORY OF CHAUTAUQUA 

leaky roof, and backless benches where the feeders 
sat around tables covered with oilcloth. And as 
for the meals — well, if there was high thinking 
at Chautauqua there was certainly plain living. 
Sometimes it rained, and D.D.'s, LL.D.'s, pro- 
fessors, and plain people held up umbrellas with one 
hand and tried to cut tough steaks with the other. 
But nobody complained at the fare, for the feast 
of reason and flow of soul made everybody forget 
burnt potatoes and hard bread. 

What is now Miller Park, the level ground and 
lovely grove at the foot of the hill, was then the 
Auditorium, where stood a platform and desk 
sheltered from sim on some days and rain on others. 
Before it was an array of seats, lacking backs, 
instead of which the audience used their own back- 
bones. Perhaps two thousand people coiild find 
sitting-room imder the open sky, shaded by the 
noble trees. A sudden shower would shoot up a 
thousand umbrellas. One speaker said that hap- 
pening to look up from his manuscript he perceived 
that an acre of toadstools had sprouted in a minute. 
At the lower end of this park stood the tent wherein 
Dr. Vincent dwelt during many seasons; at the 
upper end was the new cottage of the Miller family 
with a tent frame beside it for guests. At this 
Auditorium all the great lectures were given for the 




(U 
biO 

+-» 

o 
U 

a 
H 



P4 

o 




0) 

H 

d 
OS 

bX) 

fH 
+j ■ 
■♦-> 

o 
U 

u 

0) 






THE BEGINNINGS 41 

first four years of Chautauqua history, except when 
continued rain forbade. Then an adjournment, 
sometimes hasty, was made to a large tent up the 
hill, known as the Tabernacle. 

One day, during the second season of the 
Assembly in 1875, Professor William F. Sherwin, 
singer, chorus leader, Bible teacher, and wit of the 
first water, was conducting a meeting in the Audi- 
torium. The weather had been imcertain, an 
"open and shut day," and people hardly knew 
whether to meet for Sherwin 's service in the grove 
or in the tent on the hill. Suddenly a tall form, 
well known at Chautauqua, came tearing down the 
hill and up the steps of the platform, breathless, 
wild-eyed, with mop of hair flying loose, bursting 
into the professor's address with the words, "Pro- 
fessor Sherwin, I come as a committee of fifty to 
invite you to bring your meeting up to the Taber- 
nacle, safe from the weather, where a large crowd 
is gathered!" "Well," responded Sherwin, "you 
may be a committee of fifty, but you look like 
sixty !" And from that day ever after at Chautau- 
qua a highly respected gentleman from Washing- 
ton, D. C, was universally known as "the man who 
looks like sixty." 

When we speak of Sherwin, inevitably we think 
of Frank Beard, the cartoonist, whose jokes were 



42 THE STORY OF CHAUTAUQUA 

as original as his pictures. He would draw in 
presence of the audience a striking picture, seem- 
ingly serious, and then in a few quick strokes trans- 
form it into something absurdly funny. For 
instance, his "Moses in the Bulrushes'* was a 
beautiful baby surrounded by waving reeds. A 
sudden twist of the crayori, and lo, a wild bull was 
charging at the basket and it^ baby. This was 
"The Bull Rushes." Beard was as gifted with 
tongue as with pen, and in the comradeship of the 
Chautauqua platform he and Sherwin were con- 
tinually hurling jokes at each other. Oftentimes 
the retort was so pat that one couldn't help an 
inward question whether the two jesters had not 
arranged it in advance. 

Frank Beard used to hold a question drawer 
occasionally. There was a show of collecting 
questions from the audience, but those to be 
answered had been prepared by Mr. Beard and his 
equally witty wife, and written on paper easily 
recognized. One by one, these were taken out, 
read with great dignity, and answered in a manner 
that kept the crowd in a roar. On one occasion 
Professor Sherwin was presiding at Mr. Beard's 
question drawer — for it was the rule that at every 
meeting there must be a chairman as well as the 
speaker. The question was drawn out, "Will Mr. 



THE BEGINNINGS 43 

Beard please explain the difference between a 
natural consequence and a miracle?" Mr. Beard 
did explain thus: ''This difficult question can be 
answered by a very simple illustration. There is 
Professor Sherwin. If Professor Sherwin says to 
me, 'Mr. Beard, lend me five dollars,' and I should 
let him have it, that would be a natural conse- 
quence. If Professor Sherwin should ever pay it 
back, that would be a miracle!" It is needless to 
say that the opportunity soon arrived for Mr. 
Sherwin to repay Mr. Beard for full value of debt 
with abundant interest. 

Mention has been made that at each address or 
public platform meeting a chairman must be in 
charge. In the old camp-meeting days all the 
ministers had been wont to sit on the platform 
behind the preacher; and some of them could not 
reconcile themselves to Dr. Vincent's rule that 
only the chairman and the speaker of the horn- 
should occupy "the preachers' stand." Notwith- 
standing repeated announcements, some clergymen 
continued to invade the platform. The head of the 
Department of Order once pointed to a well-known 
minister and said to the writer, "Four times I 
have told that man — and a good man he is — that 
he must not take a seat on the platform." Who- 
ever casts his eyes on the platform of the Amphi- 



44 THE STORY OF CHAUTAUQUA 

theater may notice that before every public service, 
the janitor places just the number of chairs needed, 
and no more. This is one of the Chautauqua 
traditions, begun under the Vincent r6gime. 

Before we come to the more serious side of our 
story let us notice another instance of the contrast 
between the camp meeting and Chautauqua. A 
widely known Methodist came, bringing with him 
a box of revival song-books, compiled by himself. 
He was a leader of a "praying band, " and accus- 
tomed to hold meetings where the enthusiasm was 
pumped up to a high pitch. One Sunday at a cer- 
tain hour he noticed that the Auditoriimi in the 
grove was unoccupied; and gathering a group of 
friends with warm hearts and strong voices, he 
mounted the platform and in stentorian tones 
began a song from his own book. The soimd 
brought people from all the tents and cottages 
around, and soon his meeting was in full blast, 
with increasing numbers responding to his ardent 
appeals. Word came to Dr. Vincent who speedily 
marched into the arena. He walked upon the 
platform, held up his hand in a gesture compelling 
silence, and calling upon the self-appointed leader 
by name, said : 

*'This meeting is not on the program, nor ap- 
pointed by the authorities, and it cannot be held." 



THE BEGINNINGS 45 

**What?" spoke up the praying-band com- 
mander. ' ' Do you mean to say that we can't have 
a service of song and prayer on these grounds?" 

**Yes," repHed Dr. Vincent, "I do mean it. 
No meeting of any kind can be held without the 
order of the authorities. You should have come to 
me for permission to hold this service." 

The man was highly offended, gathered up his 
books, and left the grounds on the next day. He 
would have departed at once, but it was Sunday, 
and the gates were closed. Let it be said, however, 
that six months later, when he had thought it 
over, he wrote to Dr. Vincent an ample apology 
for his conduct and said that he had not realized 
the difference between a camp meeting and a 
Stinday School Assembly. He ended by an urgent 
request that Dr. Vincent should come to the camp 
ground at Round Lake, of which he was president, 
should organize and conduct an assembly to be 
an exact copy of Chautauqua in its program and 
speakers, with all the resources of Round Lake at 
his command. His invitation was accepted. In 
due time, with this man's loyal support, Dr. 
Vincent organized and set in motion the Round 
Lake Assembly, upon the Chautauqua pattern, 
which continues to this day, true to the ideals of 
the founder. 



46 THE STORY OF CHAUTAUQUA 

One unique institution on the Fair Point of those 
early days must not be omitted — the Park of 
Palestine. Following the suggestion of Dr. Vin- 
cent's church lawn model of the Holy Land, Dr. 
Wythe of Meadville, an adept in other trades 
than physic and preaching, constructed just above 
the pier on the lake shore a park one hundred and 
twenty feet long, and seventy-five feet wide, 
shaped to represent in a general way the contour 
of the Holy Land. It was necessary to make the 
elevations six times greater than longitudinal 
measurements; and if one mountain is made six 
times as large as it should be, some other hills less 
prominent in the landscape or less important in 
the record must be omitted. The lake was taken 
to represent the Mediterranean Sea, and on the 
Sea-Coast Plain were located the cities of the 
Philistines, north of them Joppa and Caesarea, 
and far beyond them on the shore, Tyre and Sidon. 
The Mountain Region showed the famous places 
of Israelite history from Beersheba to Dan, with 
the sacred mountains Olivet and Zion, Ebal and 
Gerizim having Jacob's Well beside them, Gilboa 
with its memories of Gideon's victory and King 
Saul's defeat, the mountain on whose crown our 
Lord preached his sermon, and overtopping all, 
Hermon, where he was transfigured. From two 



THE BEGINNINGS 47 

springs flowed little rills to represent the sources 
of the River Jordan which wound its way down the 
valley, through the two lakes, Merom and the Sea 
of Galilee, ending its course in the Dead Sea. 
There were Jericho and the Brook Jabbok, the 
clustered towns around the Galilean Sea, and at 
the foot of Mount Hermon, Caesarea-Philippi. 
Across the Jordan rose the Eastern Tableland, 
with its mountains and valleys and brooks and 
cities even as far as Damascus. 

As the Assembly was an experiment, and might 
be transferred later to other parts of the country, 
the materials for this Palestine Park were some- 
what temporary. The mountains were made of 
stumps, fragments of timber, filled in with sawdust 
from a Mayville mill, and covered with grassy sods. 
But the park constructed from makeshift materials 
proved one of the most attractive features of the 
encampment. Groups of Bible students might be 
seen walking over it, notebooks in their hands, 
studying the sacred places. A few would even 
pluck and preserve a spear of grass, carefully en- 
shrining it in an envelope duly marked. A report 
went abroad, indeed, that soil from the Holy Land 
itself had been spread upon the park, constituting 
it a sort of Campo Santo, but this claim was never 
endorsed by either its architect or its originator. 



48 THE STORY OF CHAUTAUQUA 

The park of Palestine still stands, having been rebuilt 
several times, enlarged to a length of 350 feet, and 
now, as I write, with another restoration promised. 

One fact in this sacred geography must needs be 
stated, in the interests of exact truth. In order 
to make use of the lake shore, north had to be in 
the south, and east in the west. Chautauqua has 
always been under a despotic though paternal 
government, and its visitors easily accommodate 
themselves to its decrees. But the sun persists in 
its independence, rises over Chautauqua's Medi- 
terranean Sea where it should set, and continues 
its sunset over the mountains of Gilead, where it 
should rise. Dr. Vincent and Lewis Miller could 
bring to pass some remarkable, even seemingly 
impossible, achievements, but they were not able 
to outdo Joshua, and not only make the sun stand 
still, but set it moving in a direction opposite to its 
natural course. 

In one of his inimitable speeches, Frank Beard 
said that Palestine Park had been made the model 
for all the beds on Fair Point. He slept, as he as- 
serted, on Palestine, with his head on Mount 
Hermon, his body sometimes in the Jordan valley, 
at other times on the mountains of Ephraim; and 
one night when it rained, he found his feet in the 
Dead Sea. 



THE BEGINNINGS 49 

In the early days of Chautauqua a tree was 
standing near Palestine Park, which invited the 
attention of every child, and many grown folks. 
It was called "the spouting tree." Dr. Wythe 
found a tree with one branch bent over near the 
ground and hollow. He placed a water-pipe in the 
branch and sent a current of fresh water through it, 
so that the tree seemed to be pouring forth water. 
At all times a troop of children might be seen 
around it. At least one little girl made her father 
walk down every day to the wonder, to the neglect 
of other walks on the Assembly ground. After- 
ward at home from an extended tour, they asked 
her what was the most wonderful thing that she 
had seen in her journey. They expected her to say, 
*' Niagara Falls," but without hesitation she an- 
swered, "The tree that spouted water at Chautau- 
qua." The standards of greatness in the eyes of 
childhood differ from those of the grown-up folks. 

The true Chautauqua, aided as it was by the 
features of mirth and entertainment and repartee, 
was in the daily program followed diligently by the 
assembled thousands. Here is in part the schedule, 
taken from the printed report. It was opened on 
Tuesday evening, August 4, 1874, i^i "the out-of- 
doors auditorium, now Miller Park, beginning with 
a brief responsive service of Scripture and song. 



50 THE STORY OF CHAUTAUQUA 

prepared by Dr. Vincent. Chautauqua clings to 
ancient customs; and that same service, word for 
word, has been rendered every year on the first 
Tuesday evening in August, at what is known as 
"Old First Night.'* 

Bishop Vincent afterward wrote of that memo- 
rable first meeting : 

The stars were out, and looked down through 
trembling leaves upon a goodly well-wrapped com- 
pany, who sat in the grove, filled with wonder and 
hope. No electric light brought platform and people 
face to face that night. The old-fashioned pine fires 
on rude four-legged stands covered with earth, burned 
with unsteady, flickering flame, now and then break- 
ing into brilliancy by the contact of a resinous stick 
of the rustic fireman, who knew how to snuff candles 
and how to turn light on the crowd of campers-out. 
The white tents around the enclosure were very beau- 
tiful in that evening light. 

At this formal opening on August 4, 1874, brief 
addresses were given by Dr. Vincent and by a 
Baptist, a Presbyterian, a Methodist, and a Con- 
gregational pastor. This opening showed the 
broad brotherhood which was to mark the history 
of Chautauqua. 

On the next day, Wednesday, began what might 
be called the school sessions of the Assembly. The 
fourteen days were divided into three terms. 




CO 



a 

(U 

•IH 

O 




;-4 
(U 

»— I 

O 



THE BEGINNINGS 51 

Every morning at 8 o'clock a brief service of prayer 
and Bible reading began the day in the auditorium, 
now Miller Park. At 8:15 during the first term, 
August 4th-9th, a conference was held of Normal 
Class and Institute conductors, at which reports 
were rendered of work done, courses of study, and 
methods of work, and results obtained. In those 
days when training classes for Sunday School 
teachers were almost unknown, this series of con- 
ferences, attended by hundreds of workers, proved 
of infinite value, and set in motion classes in many 
places. At 9 o'clock, section meetings were held 
for superintendents and pastors, and teachers of 
the different grades, from the primary class to the 
adult Bible class. 

The Normal Class held its sessions during the 
second term, from August ioth-i3th, and the third 
term, August I4th-i8th. Four classes were held 
simultaneously in different tents, with teachers 
changed each day. At these classes most of the 
lessons were on the Bible — ^its Evidences, Books and 
Authors, Geography, History, and Interpretation. 
The topics pertaining to the teacher and the class 
were taken up in the different conferences. The 
Normal Class was held to be the core and life of the 
Assembly, and everybody was urged to attend its 
sessions. All whose names began with letters from 



52 THE STORY OF CHAUTAUQUA 

A to G were to attend regularly Tent A. Those 
with initials from H to M were to go to Tent B, 
and so on through the alphabet, to the four Normal 
Tents. But the students soon found their favorite 
teachers, would watch for them, and follow them 
into their different tents. There was another in- 
fraction of the program. The blackboard was a 
new feature in Sunday School work, and not 
enough blackboards of good quality had been 
secured. Some were too small, some were not black 
enough, and one was painted with the lines for 
music. It is reported that some of the teachers 
bribed the janitor to provide for their use the good 
boards. There is even the tale that a Sunday 
School leader was seen stealing a blackboard and 
replacing it in another's tent by an inferior one. 
We humbly trust that this report was false. 

That the Normal Class, the conferences, and the 
lectures on Sunday School work were taken seri- 
ously is shown by the report of the written examina- 
tion, held on Monday, August 17th, the day before 
the Assembly closed. More than two hundred 
people sat down in the Tabernacle on the hill, 
each furnished with fifty questions on the Bible 
and the Sunday School. Twenty or more dropped 
out, but at the end of the nearly five hours 'wrestling 
one hundred and eighty-four papers were handed 



THE BEGINNINGS 53 

in. Three of these were marked absolutely per- 
fect, those of the Rev. C. P. Hard, on his way to 
India as a missionary, Mr. Caleb Sadler of Iowa, 
and the Rev. Samuel McGerald of New York. 
Ninety-two were excellent, fifty more were passed, 
making one hundred and forty-five accepted 
members of the Normal Alumni Association; 
eighteen had their papers returned to be rewritten 
after further study, and the lowest fourteen were 
consigned to the wastebasket. 

The Western Christian Advocate gave a picture 
of the first normal examination at Chautauqua, 
which we republish. 

The tent is a very large one, and was plentifully sup- 
plied with benches, chairs, camp-stools, etc. The 
spectacle was very imposing. The ladies seemed a 
little in the majority. There were two girls under 
fifteen, and one boy in his fourteenth year. Each was 
provided with paper, and each wore a more or less 
silent and thoughtful air. There was no shuffling, no 
listlessness, no whispering. The conductor, with a 
big stump for his table, occupied a somewhat central 
position, ready to respond to the call of any uplifted 
hand. We stood just back of Dr. Vincent, with the 
scene in full view. To our right, but a little on the 
outside of the tent, were Bishop Simpson and Dr. 
Thomas M. Eddy, who remained only a few minutes, 
as the latter was compelled to take the ten o'clock 
train for New York. On the same side, and a little 



54 THE STORY OF CHAUTAUQUA 

nearer to us, were groups of visitors, mostly from the 
country adjacent, who gazed in rapt astonishment at 
the sight before them, not daring to inquire the mean- 
ing of all this mute array of paper and pencil. A little 
to our left was a lawyer of large experience and almost 
national fame, who had removed his hat, collar, coat 
and cuffs; just by his side was an ex-State senator; 
and a little further on was a boy from Iowa. He had 
improvised for his table a small round log, and had 
gathered together for the better resting of his knees, a 
good-sized pile of dry beech-leaves. This lad, we 
learned, had been studying the Normal course during 
the last year; and we further discovered that he suc- 
ceeded in answering accurately all but ten or twelve of 
the fifty questions, one of the to him insoluble and 
incomprehensible being, ''What is the relation of the 
church to the Sunday School?" Nearly in front 
of the conductor were two veteran spectacled sisters, 
who at no time whispered to each other, but kept up a 
strong thinking and a frequent use of the pencil. 
Near these sat a mother and daughter from Evanston, 
Illinois, silent and confident. On the outer row of 
seats we observed three doctors of divinity, a theo- 
logical student, the president of an Ohio college, a 
gentleman connected with the internal revenue, and 
a lady principal of a young ladies* seminary, all with 
their thinking-caps admirably adjusted. 

At the end of an hour and forty minutes a New 
York brother, who had been especially active in 
sectional work, held up his hand in token of success, 
and his paper was passed up to Dr. Vincent. Shortly 
afterward another made a similar signal ; but nearly all 
occupied over three hours in the work. Over one half 
attained to seventy-five or eighty per cent. 



THE BEGINNINGS 55 

Let it be remembered that no matter how long 
the student was compelled to remain, even long 
past the dinner hour, he was not permitted to take 
a recess for his midday meal. He must stay to the 
end, or give up his examination. 

The report of the Assembly shows twenty-two 
lectures on Sunday School work, theory, and prac- 
tice; sectional meetings — nine primary, six inter- 
mediate, one senior, five of pastors and superin- 
tendents, eight normal class and institute con- 
ductors* conferences; six Normal Classes in each 
of the four tents— twenty-four in all ; three teachers' 
meetings for preparation of the Sunday School 
lesson; four Bible readings; three praise services; 
two children's meetings; and six sermons. All the 
leading Protestant churches were represented ; and 
twenty-five States in the Union, besides Ontario, 
Montreal, Nova Scotia, Ireland, Scotland, and 
India. Among the preachers we find the names of 
Dr. H. Clay Trumbull, editor of the Sunday School 
Times f John B. Gough, Bishops Simpson and 
Janes, Dr. James M. Buckley, Dr. Charles F. 
Deems, Dr. T. DeWitt Talmage, and four minis- 
ters who later became bishops in the Methodist 
Episcopal Church: — Drs. H. W. Warren, J. F. 
Hurst, E. O. Haven, and C. H. Fowler. 

The two Sundays, August 9th and i6th, were 



56 THE STORY OF CHAUTAUQUA 

golden days in the calendar. An atmosphere of 
quiet and peace reigned throughout the grounds. 
No steamboats made the air discordant around the 
pier ; the gates were closed and the steamers sailed 
by to more welcome stations; no excursion trains 
brought curious and noisy throngs of sightseers. 
Tents and cottages lay open while their dwellers 
worshiped under the trees of the Auditorium, for 
no one was required to watch against thieves in the 
crowd. The world was shut out, and a voice 
seemed to be saying, "Come ye yourselves apart 
and rest awhile.'* 

The day began with a Sunday School graded to 
embrace both young and old. The riches of officers 
and teachers formed an embarrassment. For once, 
nay twice (for there were two Sundays), a Super- 
intendent had at call more instructors than he 
could supply with classes. On each Sunday the 
attendance at the school was fifteen hundred. 

At the sunset hour each evening an "Eventide 
Conference " was held on the lake side. The dying 
day, the peaceful surroundings, the calm sheet of 
water, the mild air, combined to impart a tone of 
thoughtful, uplifting meditation. I have heard old 
Chautauquans speak many times of the inspiring 
spiritual atmosphere breathed in the very air of 
the first Chautauqua. 



THE BEGINNINGS 57 

Never before had been brought together for 
conference and for study so many leaders in the 
Sunday School army, representing so large a 
variety of branches in the church catholic. And it 
was not for a day or two days as in conventions 
and institutes, but for a solid fortnight of steady 
work. The Chautauqua of to-day is a widely 
reaching educational system, embracing almost 
every department of knowledge. But it must not 
be forgotten that all this wide realm has grown out 
of a school to awaken, instruct, and inspire Sunday 
School workers. In their conception, however, the 
two famous founders realized that all truth, even 
that looked upon as secular, is subsidiary, even 
necessary for successful teaching of the word of 
God. Hence with the courses of study and con- 
ferences upon practical details, we find on the 
program, some literature and science, with the 
spice of entertainment and amusement. 

The conception of Dr. Vincent was not to locate 
the Assembly in one place, but from time to time 
to hold similar meetings on many camp grounds, 
wherever the opportunity arose. There is a sus- 
picion that Lewis Miller held his own secret pur- 
pose to make it so successful on Chautauqua Lake 
as to insure its permanent location at Fair Point. 
That was a wise plan, for with settlement in one 



58 THE STORY OF CHAUTAUQUA 

place, buildings could be erected, and features 
like Palestine Park could be increased and im- 
proved. Whether it was by a suggestion or a 
common impulse, on the last day of the Assembly 
a meeting was held and a unanimous appeal was 
presented to make Fair Point the home of the 
Assembly. The trustees of the camp meeting 
shared in the sentiment and offered to receive new 
members representing the Assembly constituency. 
As a result, the officiary was reorganized, no longer 
as a camp meeting but as an Assembly Board. 
For two years Fair Point was continued as the 
name of the Post Office, although the title "Chau- 
tauqua Sunday School Assembly" was adopted. 
But soon Fair Point became "Chautauqua" on 
the list of the Post Office Department, and the old 
name lingers only in the memory of old Chau- 
tauquans. 

Before we leave that pioneer Chautauqua, we 
must recall some of its aspects, which might be 
forgotten in these later days, at once amusing, 
perplexing, and sometimes trying. More steamers, 
great and small, were plying Chautauqua*s waters 
than at the present under the steamboat corpora- 
tion system. Old Chautauquans will remember 
that ancient three-decker. The Jamestown, with its 
pair of stern wheels, labeled respectively " Vincent" 



THE BEGINNINGS 59 

and " Miller." Each steamer was captained by its 
owner; and there was often a congestion of boats 
at the pier, especially after the arrival of an excur- 
sion train. Those were not the days of standard 
time, eastern and central, with watches set an hour 
fast or slow at certain well-known points. Each 
boat followed its own standard of time, which 
might be New York time, Buffalo or Pittsburgh 
time, forty minutes slower, or even Columbus or 
Cincinnati time, slower still. Railroads crossing 
Ohio were required to run on Columbus time. 
When you were selecting a steamer from the thirty 
placards on the bulletin board at the Fair Point 
Post office, in order to meet an Erie train at Lake- 
wood, unless you noticed the time-standard, you 
might find at the pier that your steamer had gone 
forty minutes before, or on arriving at Lakewood 
learn that your boat was running on Cincinnati 
time, and you were three quarters of an hour late 
for the train, for even on the Erie of those days, 
trains were not always an hour behind time. 

Nor was this variety of "time, times, and half- 
time" all the drawbacks. When news came that 
an excursion train was due from Buffalo, every 
steamboat on the lake would ignore its time-table 
and the needs of the travelers; and all would 
be bunched at the May ville dock and around it to 



60 THE STORY OF CHAUTAUQUA 

catch the passengers. Or it might be a similar but 
more tangled crowd of boats in the Outlet at James- 
town to meet a special train from Pittsburgh. 
Haven't I seen a bishop on the Fair Point pier, who 
must get the train at Lakewood to meet his con- 
ference in Colorado, scanning the landscape with 
not a boat in sight, all piled up three miles away? 
Nor were the arrangements for freight and 
baggage in those early years any more systematic 
than those for transportation. Although Chau- 
tauqua Lake is on the direct line of travel east and 
west, between New York and Chicago, and north 
and south between Buffalo and Pittsburgh, Fair 
Point, the seat of the Assembly, was not a railroad 
station. Luggage could be checked only to James- 
town, Lakewood, or Mayville, and thence must be 
sent by boat. Its destination might be indicated 
by a tag or a chalk mark, or it might remain un- 
marked. Imagine a steamer deck piled high with 
trunks, valises, bundles of blankets, furniture, 
tent equipment, and things miscellaneous, stopping 
at a dozen points along the lake to have its cargo 
assorted and put ashore — is it strange that some 
baggage was left at the wrong place, and its owner 
wandered around looking vainly for his property? 
One man remarked that the only way to be stire 
of your trunk was to sit on it; but what if your 







in u 

M W 

«4-l fXi 

(1) o 






s 




cti 








CO 








'•3 


^ 


C5 


+J 




o 


a 


fe 


o 


bA 




.3 


w 


^ 


4-> 


o 




o 


J^ 


H-J 


o 




s 


^ 




u 


•• 


ai 


•o 


P^ 


a 

3 


<D 


o 


ti 


u 

bO 


-t-» 


<L> 


0) 


s 


1—1 




cti 


« 


Ph 


cd 




a> 




CO 




•o 




ctf 



THE BEGINNINGS 6i 

trunk was on the top or at the bottom of a pile 
ten feet high? Considering all the difficulties and 
discomforts of those early days — travel, baggage, 
no hotels nor boarding houses, a crowded dining 
hall with a hungry procession outside perhaps in 
the rain waiting for seats at the tables, the food 
itself none of the best — it is surprising that some 
thousands of people not only found the Assembly, 
but stayed to its conclusion, were happy in it, 
lived in an enchanted land for a fortnight, and 
resolved to return the very next year ! More than 
this, they carried its enthusiasm and its ideals 
home with them and in hundreds of places far 
apart, the Sunday Schools began to assume a new 
and higher life. Some time after this, but still 
early in Chautauqua's history, a prominent Sun- 
day School man expressed to the writer his opinion 
that ''people who came home from Chautauqua 
became either a mighty help or a mighty nuisance. 
They brought with them more new ideas than 
could be put into operation in ten years; and if 
they couldn't get them, one and all, adopted at 
once they kicked and growled incessantly." 

Before we leave the Assembly of 1874, we must 
not forget to name one of its most powerful and 
far-reaching results — the Woman's Christian Tem- 
perance Union. This assembly was held soon after 



62 THE STORY OF CHAUTAUQUA 

the great crusade of 1874 i^ Ohio, when multitudes 
of women, holding prayer meetings on the sidewalk 
in front of liquor saloons literally prayed thousands 
of them out of existence. While the fire of the 
crusade was still burning, a number of women held 
meetings at Chautauqua during the Assembly, and 
took counsel together concerning the best measures 
to promote the temperance reform. They united 
in a call signed by Mrs. Mattie McClellan Brown, 
Mrs. Jennie Fowler Willing, Mrs. Emily Hunting- 
ton Miller, and others, for a convention of women 
to be held in Cleveland, Ohio, November 17, 1874. 
At this convention, sixteen States were repre- 
sented, and the national Woman's Christian Tem- 
perance Union was organized, an institution which 
did more than any other to form public sentiment, 
to make State after State "dry," and finally to 
establish nation-wide constitutional prohibition. 
It may not be generally known that this mighty 
movement began at the first Chautauqua Assembly. 



CHAPTER V 

THE EARLY DEVELOPMENT 

Chautauqua was a lusty infant when it entered 
upon life in 1874, ^^^ i^ began with a penetrating 
voice, heard afar. Like all normal babies (normal 
seems to be the right word just here) it began to 
grow, and its progress in the forty-seven years of 
its life thus far (1920) has been the growth of a 
giant. Territorially, on Chautauqua Lake, it has 
enlarged at successive stages from twenty acres 
to more than three hundred and thirty acres, 
impelled partly by a demand of its increasing 
family for house-room, educational facilities, and 
playgrounds, partly from the necessity of control- 
ling its surroundings to prevent occupation by 
undesirable neighbors. There has been another 
vast expansion in the establishment of Chautau- 
quas elsewhere, until the continent is now dotted 
with them. A competent authority informs the 
writer that within twelve months ten thousand 
assemblies bearing the generic name Chautauqua 
have been held in the United States and the Domin- 

63 



64 THE STORY OF CHAUTAUQUA 

ion of Canada. There has been a third growth in 
the intellectual sweep of its plans. We have seen 
how it began as a system of training for teachers 
in the Sunday School. We shall trace its advance- 
ment into the wider field of general and universal 
education, a school in every department and for 
everybody everywhere. 

To at least one pilgrim the Assembly of 1875 
was monumental, for it marked an epoch in his 
life. That was the writer of this volume, who in 
that year made his first visit to Chautauqua. 
(The general reader who has no interest in personal 
reminiscences may omit this paragraph.) He 
traveled by the Erie Railroad, and that evening 
for the first time in his life saw a berth made up in a 
sleeping-car, and crawled into it. If in his dreams 
that night, a vision could have flashed upon his 
inward eye of what that journey was to bring to 
him in the coming years, he might have deemed it 
an Arabian Night's dream. For that visit to Chau- 
tauqua, not suddenly but in the after years, 
changed the entire course of his career. It sent 
him to Chautauqua thus far for forty-six successive 
seasons, and perhaps may round him out in a semi- 
centennial. It took him out of a parsonage, and 
made him an itinerant on a continent-wide scale. 
It put him into Dr. Vincent's office as an assistant, 



THE EARLY DEVELOPMENT 65 

and later in his chair as his successor. It dropped 
him down through the years at Chautauqua 
assembHes in almost half of the States of this 
Union. On Tuesday morning, August 3, 1875, I 
left the train at Jamestown, rode across the city, 
and embarked in a steamer for a voyage up the 
lake. As we slowly wound our way through the 
Outlet — it was on the old steamer Jamestown 
which was never an ocean-greyhound — I felt like 
an explorer in some unknown river. Over the old 
pier at Fair Point was the sign, "National S. S. 
Assembly, " and beneath it I stepped ashore on 
what seemed almost a holy ground, for my first 
walk was through Palestine Park. On Friday, 
August 6th, I gave a normal lesson, the first in my 
life, with fear and trembling. It was on ''the city 
of Jerusalem," and I had practiced on the map 
until I thought that I could draw it without a copy. 
But, alas, one of the class must needs come to the 
blackboard and set my askew diagram in the right 
relations. Twenty years afterward, at an assembly 
in Kansas, an old lady spoke to me after a lesson, 
"I saw you teach your first less6n at Chautauqua. 
You said that you had never taught a normal class 
before, and I thought it was the solemn truth. 
YouVe improved since then!" 

Some new features had been added to the 



66 THE STORY OP CHAUTAUQUA 

grounds since the first Assembly. Near Palestine 
Park was standing a fine model of modern Jeru- 
salem and its surrounding hills, so exact in its 
reproduction that one day a bishop pointed out the 
identical building wherein he had lodged when 
visiting the city — the same hostel, by the way, 
where this writer stayed afterward in 1897, and 
from whose roof he took his first view of the holy 
places. Near Palestine Park, an oriental house 
had been constructed, with rooms in two stories 
around an open court. These rooms were filled 
with oriental and archaeological curiosities, making 
it a museum ; and every day Dr. A. O. Von Lennep, 
a Syrian by birth, stood on its roof and gave in 
Arabic the Mohammedan call to prayer. I failed 
to observe, however, the people at Chautauqua 
prostrating themselves at the summons. Indeed, 
some of them actually mocked the make-believe 
muezzin before his face. On the hill, near the 
Dining Hall, stood a sectional model of the great 
pyramid, done in lath and plaster, as if sliced in 
two from the top downward, half of it being shown, 
and the room inside of it indicated. Also there was 
a model of the Tabernacle in the Wilderness, 
covered with its three curtains, and containing 
within an altar, table, and candlestick. Daily 
lectures were given before it by the Rev. J. S. 



THE EARLY DEVELOPMENT 67 

Ostrander, wearing the miter, robe, and breast- 
plate of the high priest. 

The evolution of the Chautauqua Idea made 
some progress at the second Assembly. Instead of 
eight sessions of the Normal Class, two were held 
daily. The program report says that fifty normal 
sessions were held ; regularly two each day, one at 
8 o'clock in the morning on a Bible topic. Break- 
fast must be rushed through at seven to brace up 
the students for their class. Another was held at 
3 : 30, on some subject pertaining to the pupil or 
the teacher; with extra sessions in order to com- 
plete the specified course. A class in Hebrew was 
held daily by Dr. S. M. Vail, and attended by forty 
students. Dr. Vail had been for many years pro- 
fessor of Hebrew in the earliest Methodist theo- 
logical school, the Biblical Institute at Concord, 
New Hampshire, which afterward became the 
School of Theology in Boston University. Dr. 
Vail was an enthusiast in his love of Hebrew 
language and literature. One who occupied a tent 
with him — all the workers of that season were 
lodged in a row of little tents on Terrace Avenue, 
two in each tent — averred that his trunk contained 
only a Hebrew Bible (he didn't need a lexicon) 
and a clean shirt. 

Besides the class in Hebrew, Madame Kriege of 



68 THE STORY OF CHAUTAUQUA 

New York conducted a class in kindergarten 
teaching, and Dr. Tourjee of Boston, W. F. Sher- 
win, and C. C. Case held classes in singing. All 
these were supposedly for Sunday School teachers, 
but they proved to be the thin end of the wedge 
opening the way for the coming summer school. 

Even more strongly than at the earlier session, 
the Normal Class, with a systematic course of 
instruction in the Bible and Sunday School work, 
was made the center of the program. It is signifi- 
cant of the importance assigned to this department 
that for several years, no other meeting, great or 
small, was permitted at the normal hours. The camp 
must either attend the classes or stay in its tents. 

At this session, Mrs. Frank Beard, noting the 
insistent announcement of the Normal Classes, and 
the persistent urging that everybody attend them, 
was moved to verse. As true poetry is precious, her 
effusion is here given : 

To Chautauqua went 

On pleasure bent 
A youth and maiden fair. 

Working in the convention 

Was not their intention, 
But to drive away dull care. 

Along came John V — 

And what did he see 
But this lover and his lass. 



THE EARLY DEVELOPMENT 69 

Says he, "You must 
Get up and dust 
And go to the Normal Class." 

The great event in the Assembly of '75 was the 
visit of General U. S. Grant, then President of the 
United States on his second term. It was brought 
about partly because of the long-time friendship 
of the General with Dr. Vincent, dating back to 
the Galena pastorate of i860 and '61, but also 
through the influence and activity of the Rev. Dr. 
Theodore L. Flood, who though a successful 
Methodist minister was also somewhat of a poli- 
tician. The President and his party came up from 
Jamestown on a steamer-yacht, and at Fair Point 
were lodged in the tent beside the Lewis Miller 
cottage. True to his rule while General and 
President, Grant made no speech in public, not 
even when a handsomely bound Bagster Bible 
was presented to him in behalf of the assembly. 
Those were the palmy days of "Teachers' Bibles," 
with all sorts of helps and tables as appendices; 
and at that time the Bagster and the American 
Tract Society were rivals for the Sunday School 
constituency. Not to be outdone by their com- 
petitors, the Tract Society's representative at 
Chautauqua also presented one of his Bibles to 
the President. One can scarcely have too many 



70 THE STORY OF CHAUTAUQUA 

Bibles, and the General may have found use for 
both of them. He received them with a nod but 
never a word. Yet those who met him at dinners 
and in social life said that in private he was a de- 
lightful talker and by no means reticent. The 
tents and cottages on the Chautauqua of those 
days were taxed to almost bursting capacity to 
house the multitude over the Sunday of the Presi- 
dent's visit. As many more would have come on 
that day, if the rules concerning Sabbath observ- 
ance had been relaxed, as some had expected. 
But the authorities were firm, the gates by lake 
and land were kept closed, and that Simday was 
like all other Sundays at Chautauqua. 

At the close of the Assembly, the normal examina- 
tions were given to 190 students; some left the 
tent in terror after reading over the questions, but 
130 struggled to the end and handed in their 
papers, of which 123 were above the passing grade. 
There were now two classes of graduates, and the 
Chautauqua Normal Alumni Association was 
organized. Mr. Otis F. Presbrey of Washington, 
D. C. (the man who on a certain occasion ''looked 
like sixty ")> was its first president. The secretary 
chosen was the Rev. J. A. Worden, a Presbyterian 
pastor at Steubenville, Ohio, and one of the normal 
teachers at Chautauqua; who afterward, and for 




Spouting Tree and Oriental House 



THE EARLY DEVELOPMENT 71 

many years/was general secretary and superinten- 
dent of Sabbath School work in the Presbyterian 
Chtirch. 

At the Assembly of 1875, a quiet, unassuming 
little lady was present, who was already famous, 
and helped to increase the fame of Chautauqua. 
This was Mrs. G. R. Alden, the wife of a Presby- 
terian pastor, but known everywhere as ''Pansy," 
whose story-books were in almost every Sunday 
School library on the continent. She wrote a 
book. Four Girls at Chautauqua, which ingeniously 
wove into the account of the actual events of the 
season, including some of its rainy days — that 
was the year when it rained more or less on four- 
teen of the seventeen days of the Assembly — ^her 
four girls, so well imagined that they seemed real. 
Indeed when one read the account of one's own 
speech at a children's meeting, he could not doubt 
that the Flossie of the story who listened to it 
was a veritable flesh and blood girl in the audience. 
The story became one of the most popular of the 
Pansy books, brought Chautauqua to the attention 
of many thousands, and led large numbers of 
people to Fair Point. Pansy has ever been a true 
friend of Chautauqua, and has written several 
stories setting forth its attractions. 



CHAPTER VI 

THE NATIONAL CENTENNIAL YEAR 

The founders of Chautauqua looked forward to 
its third session with mingled interest and anxiety. 
It was the centennial year of American Independ- 
ence, and an exposition was opening in Phila- 
delphia, far more noteworthy in its buildings and 
exhibits than any previous effort in the annals of 
the nation. The World's Fair in the Crystal 
Palace of New York, in 1855, the first attempt 
in America to hold an universal exposition, was a 
pigmy compared with the immense display in the 
park of Philadelphia on the centennial year. 
Could the multitudes from every State and from 
foreign lands be attracted from Philadelphia five 
hundred miles to Chautauqua Lake? Had the 
quest of the American people for new interests 
been satisfied by two years at the Assembly? 
Would it be the wiser course in view of the com- 
petition to hold merely a modest little gathering 
at Fair Point, or to venture boldly upon greater 
endeavors than ever before; to enlarge the pro- 

72 



THE NATIONAL CENTENNIAL YEAR 73 

gram, to advertise more widely, and to compel 
attention to the new movement? Anyone who 
knew the adventurous, aspiring nature of both 
Miller and Vincent would unhesitatingly answer 
these questions. 

The Assembly of 1876 was planned upon a larger 
scale than ever before. The formal opening took 
place on Tuesday evening, August ist, in the 
forest-sheltered Auditorium, but two gatherings 
were held in advance and a third after its conclu- 
sion, so that the entire program embraced twenty- 
four days instead of seventeen. 

The first meeting was the Scientific Conference, 
July 26th to 28th, aiming both to present science 
from the Christian point of view, and Christianity 
from the scientific point of view, showing the 
essential harmony between them, without either 
subjecting conclusions of science to church- 
authority or cutting up the Bible at the behest of 
the scientists. There had been frequent battles 
between the theologians and the students of nature 
and the ** conflict of science and religion " had been 
strongly in evidence, ever since the publication of 
Darwin's Origin of Species in 1859. Most pulpits 
had uttered their thimders against "Darwinism," 
even though some of the pulpiteers had never read 
Darwin's book, nor could have understood it if they 



74 THE STORY OF CHAUTAUQUA 

had tried. And many professors who had never 
listened to a gospel sermon, and rarely opened their 
Bibles, had launched lightnings at the camp of the 
theologians. But here was something new; a 
company of scholars including Dr. R. Ogden 
Doremus of New York, Professor A. S. Lattimore 
of Rochester, Dr. Alexander Winchell of Michigan, 
and others of equal standing, on the same platform 
with eminent preachers, and no restraint on either 
side, each free to utter his convictions, and all 
certain that the outcome would be peace and not 
war. 

The writer of these pages was present at most 
of those lectures, and remembers one instance 
showing that the province of science is in the past 
and the present and not in the future. Dr. Dore- 
mus was giving some brilliant experiments in the 
newer developments of electricity. Be it remem- 
bered that it was the year 1876, and in the Cen- 
tennial Exposition of that year there was neither 
an automobile, a trolley-car, nor an electric light. 
He said, *'I will now show you that remarkable 
phenomenon — the electric light. Be careful not 
to gaze at it too steadily, for it is apt to dazzle 
the beholder and may injure the eyesight." Then 
as an arc-light of a crude sort flashed and sput- 
tered, and fell and rose again only to sputter and 



THE NATIONAL CENTENNIAL YEAR 75 

fall, the lecturer said, "Of course, the electric 
light is only an interesting experiment, a sort of 
toy to amuse spectators. Every effort to ulitize it 
has failed, and always will fail. The electric light 
in all probability wiU never be of any practical value. ' * 

Yet at that very time, Thomas A. Edison in 
Menlo Park, New Jersey, was perfecting his 
incandescent light, and only three years later, 
1879, Chautauqua was illuminated throughout 
by electricity. When the scientist turns prophet 
he becomes as fallible as the preacher who assumes 
to prescribe limitations to scientific discovery. 
We live in an age of harmony and mutual helpful- 
ness between science and religion ; and Chautauqua 
has wrought mightily in bringing to pass the new 
day. 

It is worthy of mention that Chautauqua holds a 
connecting link with ''the wizard of Llewellyn 
Park" and his electric light; for some years later 
Mr. Edison married Miss Mina Miller, daughter 
of the Foimder Lewis Miller. The Miller family, 
Founder, sons, daughters, and grandchildren, have 
maintained a deep interest in Chautauqua; and 
the Swiss Cottage at the head of Miller Park has 
every year been occupied. Representatives of the 
Miller family are always members of the Board 
of Trustees. 



76 THE STORY OF CHAUTAUQUA 

After the Scientific Conference came a Temper- 
ance Congress, on July 29th and 30th. A new 
star had arisen in the firmament. Out Of a little 
meeting at Chautauqua in 1874, ^^^ grown the 
Woman's Christian Temperance Union, already in 
1876 organized in every State and in pretty nearly 
every town. Its founders had chosen for President 
of the Union a young woman who combined in one 
personality the consummate orator and the wise 
executive, Miss Frances Elizabeth Willard of 
Evanston, Illinois, who resigned her post as Dean 
of the Woman's Department of the Northwestern 
University to enter upon an arduous, a lifelong 
and world-wide warfare to prohibit intoxicants, 
and as a means to that end, to obtain the suffrage 
for women. Frances Willard died in 1898, but if 
she could have lived until 1920 she would have seen 
both her aims accompHshed in the eighteenth and 
nineteenth amendments to the Constitution of the 
United States ; one forbidding the mantifactureand 
sale of all alchoholic liquors, the other opening the 
door of the voting-booth to every woman in the 
land. In Statuary Hall, Washington, the only wo- 
man standing in marble is Frances E. Willard (there 
will be others later), and her figure is there among 
the statesmen and warriors of the nation's history, 
by vote of the Legislature of the State of Illinois. 







Rustic Bridge over Ravine 



THE NATIONAL CENTENNIAL YEAR 77 

At every step in the progress of Chautauqua the 
two Founders held frequent consultations. Both 
of them belonged to the progressive school of 
thought, but on some details they differed, and 
woman's sphere was one of their points of dis- 
agreement. Miller favored women on the Fair 
Point platform, but Vincent was in doubt on the 
subject. Of course some gifted women came as 
teachers of teachers in the primary department of 
the Sunday School, but on the program their 
appearance was styled a "Reception to Primary 
Teachers by Mrs. or Miss So-and-So." Dr. 
Vincent knew Frances E. Willard, admired her, 
believed honestly that she was one of the very 
small number of women called to speak in public, 
and he consented to her coming to Chautauqua in 
the Temperance Congress of 1 876. From the hour 
of her first appearance there was never after any 
doubt as to her enthusiastic welcome at Chau- 
tauqua. No orator drew larger audiences or bound 
them under a stronger spell by eloquent words 
than did Frances Elizabeth Willard. Frances 
Willard was the first but by no means the last 
woman to lecture on the Chautauqua platform. 
Mrs. Mary A. Livermore soon followed her, and 
before many summers had passed. Dr. Vincent 
was introducing to the Chautauqua constituency 



78 THE STORY OF CHAUTAUQUA 

women as freely as men, to speak on the questions 
of the time. 

Another innovation began on this centennial 
season — The Chautauqua Assembly Herald. For 
two years the Assembly had been dependent 
upon reports by newspaper correspondents, who 
came to the ground as strangers, with no share 
in the Chautauqua spirit, knowing very little of 
Chautauqua's aims, and eager for striking para- 
graphs rather than accurate records. A lecturer 
who is wise never reads the report of his speech in 
the current newspapers; for he is apt to tear his 
hair in anguish at the tale of his utterances. 
Chautauqua needed an organ, and Dr. Theo- 
dore L. Flood, from the first a staunch friend 
of the movement, undertook to establish a daily 
paper for the season. The first number of the 
Herald appeared on June 29, 1876, with Dr. 
Flood as editor, and Mr. Milton Bailey of James- 
town as publisher. The opening number was 
published in advance of the Assembly and sent to 
Chautauquans everywhere; but the regular issue 
began on July 29th with the Scientific Conference, 
and was continued daily (except Sunday) until the 
close of the Assembly. Every morning sleepers 
(who ought to have arisen earlier in time for morn- 
ing prayers at 6:40) were awakened by the shrill 



THE NATIONAL CENTENNIAL YEAR 79 

voices of boys calling out ''Daily Assembly Herald!'' 
The Daily was a success from the start, for it 
contained accurate and complete reports of the 
most important lectures, outlines of the Normal 
lessons, and the items of information needed by 
everybody. All over the land people who could 
not come to Chautauqua kept in touch with its 
life through the Herald. More than one distin- 
gtlished journalist began his editorial career in 
the humble quarters of The Chautauqua Daily 
Assembly Herald. For two seasons the Daily was 
printed in Mayville, though edited on the ground. 
In 1878 a printing plant was established at the 
Assembly and later became the Chautauqua Press. 
Almost a generation after its establishment, its 
name was changed to The Chautauquan Daily, 
which throughout the year is continued as The 
Chautauquan Weekly, with news of the Chau- 
tauqua movement at home and abroad. 

Visitors to Chautauqua in the centennial year 
beheld for the first time a structure which won 
fame from its inhabitants if not from its archi- 
tecture. This was the Guest House, standing 
originally on the lake shore near the site of the 
present Men's Club building; though nobody 
remembers it by its official name, for it soon became 
known as ''The Ark." No, gentle reader, the 



8o THE STORY OF CHAUTAUQUA 

report is without foundation that this was the 
original vessel in which Noah traveled with his 
menagerie, and that after reposing on Mount 
Ararat it went adrift on Lake Chautauqua. 
"The Ark" was built to provide a comfortable 
home for the speakers and workers at the Assembly 
who for two years had been lodged in tents, like 
the Israelites in the Wilderness. It was a frame 
building of two stories, shingle-roofed, with exter- 
nal walls and internal partitions of tent-cloth. 
Each room opened upon a balcony, the stairs to the 
upper floor being on the outside and the entire 
front of each cell a curtain, which under a strong 
wind was wont to break loose, regardless of the 
condition of the people inside. After a few years a 
partition between two rooms at one end was taken 
down, a chimney and fireplace built, and the result 
was a living room where the arkites assembled 
around a fire and told stories. Ah, those nodes 
ambrosiancB when Edward Everett Hale and 
Charles Barnard and Sherwin and the Beards 
narrated yams and cracked jokes! Through the 
thin partitions of the bedrooms, every sneeze 
could be heard. The building was soon dubbed 
Noah's Ark, then " Knowers' Ark," from the varied 
learning of its indwellers; and sometimes from the 
reverberations sounding at night, ''Snorers' Ark.'* 



THE NATIONAL CENTENNIAL YEAR 8i 

Frank Beard was a little deaf, and was wont to sit 
at these conversazioni in the parlor of the Ark 
with his hand held like an ear-trumpet. Mrs. 
Beard used to say that whenever she wished to 
hold a private conversation with him, they hired 
a boat and rowed out at least a mile from the 
shore. When the Assembly enlarged its bound- 
aries by a purchase of land, the Ark was moved up 
to higher ground in the forest near where the Nor- 
mal Hall now stands, and there served almost a 
generation of Chautauqua workers, until its frail 
materials were in danger of collapse, and it was 
taken down. Less famous buildings have been 
kept in memory by tablets and monuments ; but it 
would require no small slab of marble to contain 
the names of the famous men and women who 
dwelt in that old Guest House; and what a book 
might have been made if some Boswell had kept 
the record of its stories and sayings ! After spend- 
ing two nights in the Ark, the Rev. Alfred Taylor's 
poetic muse was aroused to sing of the place and 
its occupants after this fashion : 

This structure of timber and muslin contained 

Of preachers and teachers some two or three score ; 

Of editors, parsons a dozen or more. 

There were Methodists, Baptists, and 'Piscopals, too 

And grave Presbyterians, a handful or two. 

6 



82 THE STORY OF CHAUTAUQUA 

There were lawyers, and doctors and various folks, 
All full of their wisdom, and full of their jokes. 
There were writers of lessons, and makers of songs, 
And shrewd commentators with wonderful tongues ; 
And all of these busy, industrious men 
Found it hard to stop talking at just half-past ten. 
They talked, and they joked, and they kept such a 

clatter 
That neighboring folks wondered what was the matter 
But weary at last, they extinguished the light, 
And went to their beds for the rest of the night. 

The formal opening of the Assembly in 1876 
took place after the Scientific and Temperance 
gatherings, on Tuesday evening, August ist, in 
the leaf -roofed Auditorium, but the benches were 
now provided with backs for the comfort of the 
thousands. The platform had been enlarged to 
make room, for a choir, under the leadership in turn 
of W. F. Sherwin and Philip P. Bliss, whose gospel 
songs are still sung around the world. Only a 
few months later, that voice was hushed forever 
on earth, when the train bearing the singer and his 
wife crashed through a broken bridge at Ashtabula, 
Ohio. The record of that evening shows that 
fifteen speakers gave greetings, supposedly five 
minutes in length, although occasionally the 
flow of language overpassed the limit. Among the 
speakers we read the names of Dr. Henry M. San- 



THE NATIONAL CENTENNIAL YEAR 83 

ders of New York, Mr. John D. Wattles of the 
Sunday School Times, Dr. Henry W. Warren of 
Philadelphia, soon to become a bishop in the 
Methodist Episcopal Church, Dr. C. F. Burr, 
the author of Ecce Cesium, a book of astronomy 
ministering to religion, famous in that day, though 
almost forgotten in our time; Dr. Lyman Abbott, 
who came before the audience holding up his 
pocket-Bible, with the words, "I am here tonight, 
because here this book is held in honor," Dr. 
Warren Randolph, the head of Sunday School 
work among the Baptist churches, and Mr. A. O. 
Van Lennep, in Syrian costume and fez-cap. He 
made two speeches, one in Arabic, the other in 
English. 

Normal work for Sunday School teachers was 
kept well in the foreground. The subjects of the 
course were divided into departments, each under 
a director, who chose his assistants. Four simul- 
taneous lessons were given in the section tents, 
reviewed later in the day by the directors at a 
meeting of all the classes in the pavilion. In 
addition, Dr. Vincent held four public platform 
reviews, covering the entire course. The record 
states that about five hundred students were 
present daily in the Normal department. About 
one hundred undertook the final examinations for 



84 THE STORY OF CHAUTAUQUA 

membership in the Normal Alumni Association. 
The writer of these pages well remembers those 
hours in the pavilion, for he was one of those 
examined, and Frank Beard was another. The 
first question on the paper was, *'What is your 
name and address?'* Mr. Beard remarked 
audibly, that he was glad he could answer at least 
one of the questions. To dispel the doubts of our 
readers, we remark that both of us passed, and 
were duly enrolled among the Normal Alumni. 

The list of the lecturers and their subjects show 
that Bible study and Bible teaching still stood at 
the fore. The program contained with many 
others the following names: Dr. W. E. Knox on 
"The Old Testament Severities," Dr. Lyman 
Abbott, "Bible Interpretation," Dr. R. K. Har- 
grove of Tennessee, later a bishop in the Method- 
ist Episcopal Church, South, "Childhood and the 
Sunday School Work," Dr. George P. Hays, 
then President of Washington and Jefferson 
College, "How to Reason," Frank Beard, a carica- 
ture lecture with crayon on "Our School," show- 
ing types of teachers and scholars. Dr. George 
W. Woodruff, a most entertaining lecture on 
"Bright Days in Foreign Lands," Dr. A. J. Baird 
of Tennessee, "Going Fishing with Peter," Rev. 
J. A. Worden, "What a Presbyterian Thinks of 




Amphitheater Audience 
On the Lake By the Lake 

Tennis Courts 
In the Lake 



THE NATIONAL CENTENNIAL YEAR 85 

John Wesley," — a response to Rev. J. L. Hurlbut*s 
lecture in 1875 on "What a Methodist Thinks of 
John Knox,"— Prof. L. T. Townsend, "Paurs Cloak 
Left at Troas"; also Dr. Richard Newton, M. C. 
Hazard, editor of the National Sunday School 
Teacher, Rev. Thomas K. Beecher of Elmira, and 
Bishop Jesse T. Peck. These are a few samples 
of the repast spread on the lecture platform of the 
Assembly. 

The Centennial of American Independence was 
duly commemorated on Saturday, August 5th. 
Bishop Simpson had been engaged to deliver the 
oration, but was kept at home by illness and the 
hour was filled with addresses by different speakers, 
one of whom, Mr. W. Aver Duncan of London, 
presented the congratulations of Old England to 
her daughter across the sea. A children's centen- 
nial was held in the afternoon, at which the writer 
of this story spoke, and Frank Beard drew funny 
pictures. We will not tell, though we know, 
which of the two orators pleased the children most. 
At the sunset hour an impressive Bible service was 
held on the shore of the lake by Professor Sherwin, 
followed in the Auditorium by a concert of slave- 
songs from "The North Carolinians," a troupe of 
negro college students. Late in the evening came 
a gorgeous display on the lake, the Illuminated 



86 THE STORY OF CHAUTAUQUA 

Fleet. Every steam vessel plying Chautauqua 
waters marched in line, led by the old three-decker 
Jamestown all hung with Chinese lanterns, and 
making the sky brilliant with fireworks. A week 
later there was a commemorative tree-planting 
on the little park in the angle between the present 
Post Office building and the Colonnade. Presi- 
dent Lewis Miller, Dr. C. H. Payne, President of 
Ohio Wesleyan University, Drs. Vail and Strong, 
teachers of Hebrew and Greek at the Assembly, 
Drs. O. H. Tiffany, T. K. Beecher, Richard New- 
ton, J. A. Worden, Beard and Sherwin, Dr. Wythe, 
builder of Palestine Park and Director of Recre- 
ations at the Assembly, and Prof. P. P. Bliss were 
some, but not all of those who planted trees.. 
Afterward each tree was marked by a sign bearing 
the name of its planter. These signs were lost in 
the process of the years, and not all the trees are 
now living. I think that I can identify the tree 
planted by Frank Beard, but am not sure of any 
other in the little group remaining at the present 
time. 

A noteworthy event at the Assembly of 1876 
was the establishment of the Children's Meeting 
as a daily feature. Meetings for the younger 
people had been held from time to time in '74 and 
'75 but this year Frank Beard suggested a regular 



THE NATIONAL CENTENNIAL YEAR 87 

"Children's Hour," and the meetings were at first 
conducted by him, mingling religion and humor. 
Underneath his fun, Mr. Beard had a serious 
soul. He read strong books, talked with his 
friends on serious subjects, always sought to give 
at least one illustrated Bible reading during 
the Assembly, and resented the popular expec- 
tation that he should be merely the funny man on 
the program. He was assisted in his children's 
meeting by the Rev. Bethuel T. Vincent, a brother 
of the Founder, who was one of the most remarkable 
teachers of children and young people whom I 
have ever known. He could arrange the facts of 
Bible knowledge in outline, could present them 
in a striking manner, and drill them into the minds 
of the boys and girls in an enduring way that 
few instructors could equal and none surpass. 
Before many sessions, Mr. Vincent's lesson became 
the major feature and Beard's pictures the enter- 
tainment of the meeting. The grown-ups came to 
the meetings in such numbers as threatened to 
crowd out the children, until the rule was made 
that adults must take the rear seats, — ^no excep- 
tion being made even for the row of ear-trumpets — 
leaving the front to the little people. Following 
the custom of the Normal Class, an examination 
in writing that would tax the brains of many 



88 THE STORY OF CHAUTAUQUA 

ministers was held at the close, limited to all 
below a certain age, and prizes were awarded 
to the best papers presented. As after forty years 
I read the list of graduates in those early classes, 
I find the names of men and women who have 
distinguished themselves as ministers and mission- 
aries in the churches. 

Early in the Assembly season, on August 7, 
1876, a momentous step was taken in the appoint- 
ment by the instructors and students of the 
Normal Class, of a committee to prepare a course 
of study for the preparation of Sunday School 
teachers. Eleven men, present at Chautauqua, 
representing ten different denominations, were 
chosen as the committee, and their report con- 
stituted the first attempt at a union normal course. 
Hitherto each church had worked out its own 
independent course of study, and the lines laid 
down were exceedingly divergent. This new 
course prescribed forty lessons, a year's work 
divided between the study of the Bible, the Sun- 
day School, the pupil, and the principles of teach- 
ing. Comparing it with the official course now 
adopted by the International Sunday School 
Association, we find it for a year's study remark- 
ably complete and adapted to the teacher's needs. 
For years it stood as the basis of the teacher- 



THE NATIONAL CENTENNIAL YEAR 89 

training work at Chautauqua, was followed in the 
preparation of text-books and pursued by many 
classes in the United States and Canada. 

The Centennial Year marked a note of progress 
in the music at the Assembly. Up to this time 
scarcely any music had been attempted outside of 
the church and Sunday School hymnals. This 
year the choir was larger than before, perhaps as 
many as forty voices — think of that in contrast 
with the three hundred now assembled in the choir- 
gallery of the Amphitheater! Some anthems had 
been attempted, but no oratorios, and no songs 
of the secular character. It was Professor C. C. 
Case who ventured with the doubtful permission 
of Dr. Vincent to introduce at a concert some 
selections from standard music outside the realm 
of religion. Nobody objected, perhaps because 
nobody recognized the significance of the step 
taken; and it was not long before the whole world 
of music was open to Chautauquans. 

This writer remembers, however, that when at 
an evening lecture. Dr. Vincent announced as a 
prelude ''Invitation to the Dance,*' sung by a 
quartette of ladies, he received next day a letter 
of protest against so immoral a song at a religious 
gathering. If it had been sung without announce- 
ment of its title, no one would have objected. On 



90 THE STORY OF CHAUTAUQUA 

the following evening, Dr. Vincent actually offered 
a mild apology for the title. Since that time, the 
same title has been printed on the Chautauqua 
program, and the song encored by five thousand 
people. Surely, "the world do move!" 

Another step in the advancement of Chautauqua 
was the incorporation of the Assembly. Up to 
this year, 1876, the old charter of the Erie Confer- 
ence Camp Meeting Association had constituted 
the legal organization. On April 28, 1876, new 
articles of incorporation were signed at Mayville, 
the county seat, providing for twenty-four trustees 
of the Chautauqua Lake Sunday School Assembly. 
In the charter the object was stated "to hold 
stated public meetings from year to year upon 
the grounds at Fair Point in the County of Chau- 
tauqua for the furtherance of Sunday School 
interests and any other moral and religious pur- 
pose not inconsistent therewith." We note that 
the old name Fair Point was still used to designate 
the place of the Assembly. But it was for the last 
time ; with the next year's program a new name will 
appear. 

One of the first acts of the new Board was to 
purchase a large addition to the camp-meeting 
ground on its eastern border, and to lay out streets 
upon it. This section included the campus and 



THE NATIONAL CENTENNIAL YEAR 91 

site of the buildings that now adorn the College 
Hill. Some readers may inquire how the streets 
of the Assembly received their names. During the 
Camp Meeting period, the streets were named 
after Bishops of the Methodist Episcoal Church — ■ 
Simpson Avenue, Janes Avenue, Merrill Avenue, 
and so on. Under the Assembly regime a few 
more bishops were thus remembered ; the road 
winding around from Palestine Park to the land- 
gate on the public highway was called Palestine 
Avenue; Vincent Avenue ran straight up the hill 
past the old Dining Hall, Miller Avenue parallel 
with it on the west; and other streets later were 
named after prominent Chautauqua leaders. 
Wythe the first Secretary, Root, the first Vice- 
President, Massey, a family from Canada making 
liberal contributions. Miss Kimball, the efficient 
Executive Secretary of the Reading Circle, and a 
few other names in Chautauqua's annals. The 
visitor to the present-day Chautauqua smiles as he 
reads one of the earliest enactments of the new 
Board, a resolution to instruct the Superintendent 
of Grounds * ' to warn the person selling tobacco on 
the grounds that he is engaged in an unlawful 
occupation." We hasten to add that this anti- 
tobacco regulation is no longer in operation. 
The reader of this chapter perceives that the 



92 THE STORY OF CHAUTAUQUA 

centennial year marked notable advancements at 
Chautauqua: a lengthened and broadened pro- 
gram, the establishing of a newspaper, the begin- 
ning of the daily Children's Meeting with a course 
of Bible study for the young, the organizing of a 
definite course for the training of Sunday School 
teachers, the incorporation of the Assembly with a 
full Board of Trustees, with the transfer of the 
property from the former camp-meeting pro- 
prietorship, and a purchase of ground doubling 
the extent of its territory. Chautauqua, only 
three years old is already, in Scripture phrase, 
lengthening its cords and strengthening its stakes. 




Old Palace Hotel 

The Ark 

N. E. Kitchen 



Oriental Group 

Tent-Life 

Group of Workers 



Lake-Shore 
Old Dining Hall 
Woodland Path 



CHAPTER VII 

A NEW NAME AND NEW FACES 

The fourth session of the Assembly opened in 
1877 with a new name, Chautauqua taking the 
place of old Fair Point. The fonner title had 
caused some confusion. Fair Point was often 
misread "Fairport,'' and; letters wandered to dis- 
tant places of similar names. There was a Chau- 
tauqua Lake station on the Erie Railway, and a 
Chautauqua Point encampment across the lake 
from Fair Point, but the name "Chautauqua** 
had not been appropriated, and by vote of the 
trustees it was adopted; the government was 
requested to change the name of the Post Office, 
and the raiboads and steamboats to place Chau- 
tauqua upon their announcements. Fair Point 
disappeared from the record, and is now remem- 
bered only by the decreasing group of the oldest 
Chautauquans. 

Every season brings its own anxieties, and as 
the Assembly of 1877 drew near, a new fear came 
to the leaders of Chautauqua. A few will remem- 

93 



94 THE STORY OF CHAUTAUQUA 

ber, and others have heard, that in 1877 took place 
the most extensive railway strike in the annals 
of the nation. The large station of the Penn- 
sylvania Railroad in Pittsburgh was burned by a 
mob, and for weeks at a time, no trains ran either 
into or out of many important centers. Fortu- 
nately the strike was adjusted and called off before 
the Assembly opened, and on the first day four 
thousand people entered the gates, a far greater 
number than at any former opening. 

On that year the menace of denominational 
rivalry threatened to confront Chautauqua. 
Across the lake, two miles from the Assembly, 
another point reaches westward, facing the 
Assembly ground. This tract was purchased by an 
enterprising company belonging to Baptist 
churches, and named Point Chautauqua. Its 
founders disclaimed any intention of becoming 
competitors with the Assembly. Their purpose, 
as announced, was to supply sites for summer 
homes, especially to members and friends of their 
own denomination. They began by building an 
expensive hotel at a time when the Assembly was 
contented with small boarding houses; and they 
soon followed the hotel with a large lecture-hall far 
more comfortable than either the out-door audi- 
torium or the tent-pavilion at Chautauqua. To 



A NEW NAME AND NEW FACES 95 

attract visitors they soon provided a program 
of speakers, with occasional concerts. Thus on 
opposite shores of the lake two institutions were 
rising, in danger of becoming rivals in the near 
future. Nor was Chautauqua Point the only 
rival in prospect. A year or two later a tent 
was erected near Lakewood for the holding of an 
assembly upon a "liberal" platform, where 
speakers of more advanced views of religion and 
the Bible could obtain a hearing. This gathering 
favored an open Sunday, and welcomed the 
steamers and railroad excursions on the day when 
the gates of Chautauqua were kept tightly closed. 
In those days the fear was expressed that Chau- 
tauqua Lake, instead of being a center for Chris- 
tians of every name might furnish sites for separate 
conventions of different sects, and thus minister 
to dissension rather than to fellowship. 

But these fears proved to be groundless. The 
"liberal" convocation down the lake held but one 
session, and left its promoters with debts to be 
paid. The founders of the Baptist institution 
made the mistake of beginning on too great a scale. 
The hotel and lecture-hall involved the corpo- 
ration of Point Chautauqua in heavy debt, they 
were sold, and the place became a village, like 
other hamlets around the lake. The hotel was 



96 THE STORY OF CHAUTAUQUA 

continued for some years, and the lecture-hall 
became a dancing pavilion, tempting the young 
people to cross the lake from Chautauqua where 
dancing was under a strict taboo. Perhaps it 
was an advantage to the thousands at the 
Assembly to find only two miles away a place 
where the rules were relaxed. 

One story of a later season may be told in this 
connection, for it was without doubt typical. 
There are staid fathers and mothers attending 
lectures on sociology and civics in the Hall of 
Philosophy who could narrate similar experiences 
if only they would. A youth and two young lasses 
went out at the pier-gate for a sail across the lake. 
They landed at Point Chautauqua, refreshed their 
constrained bodies by a good dance, and then 
sailed home again. But it was late, the gate was 
closed, and it was of no avail to rattle the portals, 
for the gate-keepers were asleep in their homes far 
up the hill. The girls were somewhat alarmed, 
but the young man piloted them through the 
forest over a well-worn path to a place where 
some pickets of the fence were loose and could be 
shoved aside. They squeezed through and soon 
were safely at their homes. 

But their troubles were not over. Their tickets 
had been punched to go out of the grounds, but 



A NEW NAME AND NEW FACES 97 

not to come in again. Technically, in the eyes of 
the Chautauqua government they were still out- 
side the camp. This young man, however, was not 
lacking in resources. He knew all the officials 
from His Whiskers, the supreme chief of police, 
down the list. Making choice of one gateman 
whose nature was somewhat social he called upon 
him in his box, talked in a free and easy way, 
picked up his punch and began making holes in 
paper and cards. When the gatekeeper's back was 
turned, he quickly brought out the three tickets, 
punched them for coming into the grounds, and 
then laid down the nippers. The girls, now 
officially within the grounds, were grateful to 
their friend, and to manifest their regard wrought 
for him a sofa-pillow which decorated his room in 
college. 

Something should be said just here concerning 
the ticket-system of Chautauqua. It was devised 
by the genius of Lewis Miller, to whom inven- 
tion was instinctive, and was improved to meet 
every possible attempt at evasion. There were 
one-day tickets, good for only one admission, 
three-day tickets, week-tickets, and season-tickets, 
all providing no admission on Sundays. They 
were not transferable, and all except the one-day 
variety bore the purchaser's name. Two or three 



98 THE STORY OF CHAUTAUQUA 

times during the season officers visited every house 
and every lecture and class, even stopping every- 
body on the streets to see that no single-day tickets 
were kept for longer periods. Provision was made 
for exchanging at the office short-stop tickets for 
the longer time desired. If one wished to go out- 
side the gate on an errand, or for a sail on the lake, 
he must leave his ticket, unless he was known to 
the gate-keeper, in order to prevent more than one 
person from using the same ticket. When one left 
the Assembly for good, he gave up his ticket. 
Every ticket had its number by which it could be 
identified if lost or found; and the bulletin-board 
contained plenty of notices of lost tickets. 

It is said that one careful visitor carried his 
ticket everywhere for a day or two, at each lecture- 
hall and tent looking vainly for a window where it 
might be shown. As it did not seem to be needed, 
he left it in his room, only to find when he wished 
to take out a boat, that he must go home and get 
his ticket. When the day arrived for him to leave 
Chautauqua, he placed his ticket in the bottom of 
his trunk, as it would be needed no longer, intending 
to take it home as a souvenir for his memory-book. 
But, alas, at the gate, departing, he found that 
ticket an absolute necessity. Without it, appar- 
ently he must stay forever inside the walls of Chau- 



A NEW NAME AND NEW FACES 99 

tauqua. So once more he overhauled his trunk, 
dug up his ticket from its lowest strata, and 
departed in peace. 

One departure from camp-meeting customs at 
once wrought a change in the aspect of Chau- 
tauqua and greatly promoted its growth. We 
have noted the fact that in the earlier years no 
householder or tent-dweller was to receive board- 
ers, and all except those who cooked at home ate 
in a common dining-hall. After the third As- 
sembly, this restriction was removed and any- 
one could provide rooms and board upon paying 
a certain percentage of receipts to the manage- 
ment. The visitors who came in 1877 missed, but 
not in sorrow, the dingy old Dining-Hall, which 
had been torn down. But everywhere boarding 
houses had sprung up as by magic, and cottages 
had suddenly bulged out with new additions, while 
signs of ** Rooms and Board" greeted the visitants 
everywhere. In fact, so eager were the landlords 
for their prey, that runners thronged the wharf to 
inform new arrivals of desirable homes, and one 
met these agents even at the station in Mayville. 
There was an announcement of the Palace Hotel, 
the abode of luxurious aristocracy. The seeker 
after its lordly accommodations found a frame 
building, tent-covered and tent-partitioned into 



100 THE STORY OF CHAUTAUQUA 

small rooms for guests. But even this was an 
improvement upon the rows of cots in the big 
second story of the old lodging house, where fifty- 
people slept in one room, sometimes with the rain 
dripping upon them through a leaky roof. Year 
by year the boarding cottages grew in number, in 
size, and in comfort. Fain would we name some of 
these hostelries, whose patrons return to them 
season after season, but we dare not begin the 
catalogue, lest by an omission we should offend 
some beloved landlady and her guests. In a few 
years the Palace Hotel, half-house and half -tent, 
gave place to the Hotel Athenaeum, on the same 
site, whose wide balcony looks out upon the lake, 
and whose tower has been a home for some choice 
spirits. The writer knows this for he has dwelt 
beside them. 

On the extreme southwestern limit of the old 
camp ground was a ravine, unoccupied until 1877. 
On the slopes of this valley the declivity was 
cleared and terraced, .seats — this time with backs — 
were arranged upon its sides; toward the lake it 
was somewhat banked up to form a place for the 
speakers' platform. Over it was spread the tent, 
formerly known as *Hhe pavilion," brought from 
the hill beside Vincent Avenue. This was the 
nucleus out of which grew in after years the famous 




o 

O 



o 
oi 

>> 



.S i^ 
5^ 



o 



P^ 




o 
to 



W 
IS 

o 



A NEW NAME AND NEW FACES loi 

Chautauqua Amphitheater. At first it was used 
only on rainy days, but after a year or two gradu- 
ally took the place of the out-of-doors Auditorium. 

Near the book-store on the hill stands a small 
gothic, steep-roofed building, now a flower-shop. 
It was built just before the Assembly of 1877 as a 
church for the benefit of those who lived through 
the year at Chautauqua, numbering at that time 
about two hundred people. The old chapel was 
the first permanent public building erected at 
Chautauqua and still standing. 

The program of '']'] began with a council of 
Reform and Church Congress, from Saturday, 
August 4th to Tuesday, August 7th. Anthony 
Comstock, that fearless warrior in the cause of 
righteousness, whose face showed the scars of 
conflict, who arrested more corrupters of youth, 
and destroyed more vile books, papers, and pictures 
than any other social worker, was one of the lead- 
ing speakers. He reported at that time the arrest 
of 257 dealers in obscene literature and the de- 
struction of over twenty tons of their publications. 
There is evil enough in this generation, but there 
would have been more if Anthony Comstock had 
not lived in the last generation. Another reformer 
of that epoch was Francis Murphy, who had been 
a barkeeper, but became a worker for temperance. 



102 THE STORY OF CHAUTAUQUA 

His blue ribbon badge was worn by untold thou- 
sands of reformed drunkards. He had a power 
almost marvelous of freeing men from the chain of 
appetite. I was present once at a meeting in New 
York where from the platform I looked upon a 
churchful of men, more than three hundred in 
number, whose faces showed that the "pleasures 
of sin" are the merest mockery; and after his 
address a multitude came forward to sign Mr. 
Murphy's pledge and put on his blue ribbon. At 
Chautauqua Mr. Murphy made no appeal to vic- 
tims of the drink habit, for they were not there to 
hear him, but he did appeal, and most powerfully, in 
their behalf, to the Christian assemblage before 
him. Another figure on the platform was that of 
John B. Gough, — we do not call him a voice, for 
not only his tongue, but face, hands, feet, even his 
coat-tails, were eloquent. No words can do 
justice to this peerless orator in the cause of reform. 
These were the three mighty men of the council, 
but the report shows twice as many names almost 
as distinguished. 

On the evening of Tuesday, August 7th, came 
the regular opening of the Assembly proper, in the 
Auditorium on the Point. The report of attend- 
ance was far above that of any former opening day. 
Dr. Vincent presided and conducted the responsive 



A NEW NAME AND NEW FACES 103 

service of former years — the same opening sen- 
tences and songs used every year since the first 
Assembly in 1874. We find fifteen names on the 
list of the speakers on that evening, representing 
many churches, many States, and at least two 
lands outside our own. 

Is another story of Frank Beard on that evening 
beneath the dignity of history? When he came 
upon the platform, he found the chairs occupied, 
and sat down among the alto singers, where he 
insisted on remaining despite the expostulations of 
Mr. Sherwin. In the middle of the exercises, 
the steamboat whistle at the pier gave an un- 
usually raucous scream. Mr. Sherwin came for- 
ward and told the audience that there was no cause 
for alarm ; the sound was merely Mr. Beard tuning 
his voice to sing alto. Two or three speakers 
afterward incidentally referred to Mr. Beard as a 
singer, and hoped that he might favor the con- 
gregation with a solo. One of the speakers, an 
Englishman, prefaced his talk by singing an 
original song, set to Chautauqua music. That he 
might see his verses, Mr. Sherwin took down a 
locomotive headlight hanging on one of the trees, 
and held it by the side of the singer. The English- 
man, short and fat, and Sherwin with dignity 
supporting the big lantern, formed a tableau. 



104 THE STORY OF CHAUTAUQUA 

Immediately afterward Dr. Vincent called on 
Mr. Beard to speak; and this was his opening, 
delivered in his peculiar drawl. 

**I was a good mind to sing a song instead of 
making a speech, but I was sure that Professor 
Sherwin wouldn't hold the lantern for me to sing 
by. He knows that he can't hold a candle to me, 
anyhow!" 

With Professor Sherwin, in charge of the music 
in 1877, was associated Philip Phillips, whose solos 
formed a prelude to many of the lectures. No one 
who listened to that silvery yet sympathetic voice 
ever forgot it. It will be remembered that Presi- 
dent Lincoln in Washington, after hearing him sing 
Your Mission, sent up to the platform his written 
request to have it repeated before the close of the 
meeting. Mr. Phillips ever after cherished that 
scrap of paper with the noblest name in the history 
of America. Another musical event of the season 
of 1877 was the visit of the Young Apollo Club of 
New York, one of the largest and finest boy-choirs 
in the country. They gave three concerts at Chau- 
tauqua, which in the rank and rendering of their 
music were a revelation to the listening multitudes. 

While we are speaking of the music we must 
make mention of songs written and composed 
especially for Chautauqua. In Dr. Vincent's 



A NEW NAME AND NEW FACES 105 

many-sided nature was a strain of poetry, although 
I do not know that he ever wrote a verse. Yet he 
always looked at life and truth through poetic 
eyes. Who otherwise would have thought of songs 
for Chautauqua, and called upon a poet to write 
them? Dr. Vincent found in Miss Mary A. 
Lathbury another poet who could compose fitting 
verses for the expression of the Chautauqua spirit. 
If I remember rightly her first song was prepared 
for the opening in 1875, the second Assembly, and 
as the earUest, it is given in full. In it is a refer- 
ence to some speakers at the first Assembly who 
went on a journey to the Holy Land, and to one, 
the Rev. F. A. Goodwin, whose comet led the 
singing in 1874, who became a missionary in India. 

A HYMN OF GREETING 

The flush of morn, the setting suns 
Have told their glories o'er and o'er 

One rounded year, since, heart to heart 
We stood with Jesus by the shore. 

We heard his wondrous voice; we touched 
His garment's hem with rev'rent hand, 

Then at his word, went forth to preach 
His coming Kingdom in the land. 

And following him, some willing feet 
The way to Emmaus have trod; 

And some stand on the Orient plains. 
And some — ^upon the mount of God! 



io6 THE STORY OF CHAUTAUQUA 

While over all, and under all, 

The Master's eye, the Master's arm, 

Have led in paths we have not known, 
Yet kept us from the touch of harm. 

One year of golden days and deeds. 
Of gracious growth, of service sweet; 

And now beside the shore again 
We gather at the Master's feet. 

** Blest be the tie that binds, " we sing; 

Yet to the bending blue above 
We look, beyond the face of friends, 

To mark the coming of the Dove. 

Descend upon us as we wait 
With open heart — with open Word; 

Breathe on us, mystic Paraclete 
Breathe on us, Spirit of the Lord! 

Another song of the second Assembly, and sung 
through the years since at the services of the 
Chautauqua Circle, was written and set to music 
by Miss Lucy J. Rider of Chicago, afterward Mrs. 
Lucy Rider Meyer, one of the founders of the 
Deaconess movement in the Methodist Episcopal 
Church. It begins with the lines : 

The winds are whispering to the trees, 

The hill-tops catch the strain, 
The forest Hfts her leafy gates 

To greet God's host again. 



A NEW NAME AND NEW FACES 107 

In the year of which we are writing, 1877, Mary 
A. Lathbury gave to Chautauqua two songs which 
have become famous, and are to be found in every 
hymnal published during the last generation. 
One is the Evening Song of Praise, "Day is d3dng in 
the West," written to be sung at the even-tide 
conferences beside the lake. The other, beginning, 
** Break thou the bread of life," was the study 
song for the Normal Classes. Another, less widely 
known abroad, but sung every year at Chautauqua 
is the Alumni Song, "Joiii> O friends, in a memory 
song. ' ' These were a few of the many songs written 
by Miss Lathbury at Dr. Vincent's request, and 
set to music by Professor Sherwin. Originally 
composed for the Normal Class, then the most 
prominent feature on the program, after the Chau- 
tauqua Circle arose to greatness in 1878, they were 
adopted as the songs of that widespread organi- 
zation. For the C. L. S. C. a class song was 
written each year, until the Chautauqua songs 
grew into a book. Not all of these class songs 
have become popular, but quite a number are still 
sung at the Institution, especially at class-meetings 
and in the Recognition Day services. 

At the Assembly of 1877 the Normal Class still 
stood in the foreground. Special courses of lessons 
were given to Primary Teachers, by Mrs. Emily 



io8 THE STORY OF CHAUTAUQUA 

Huntington Miller, Mrs. Wilbur F. Crafts, and the 
every-popular "Pansy" — Mrs. G. R. Alden. The 
record informs us that the average attendance 
at the four normal tents was more than five hun- 
red. Thorough reviews after the course were held 
from time to time, and this year two competitive 
examinations, one on August 14th for those tmable 
to remain until the close, but received examination 
on the entire course, — ^fifty questions in number; 
the other on Tuesday, August 21st with three 
hundred candidates for the diploma. 

From 1876 for a number of years it was the cus- 
tom to hold an anniversary service on one evening, 
for the Normal Alumni. The graduates marched 
in procession, led by a band, a silken banner before 
each class, and every member wearing a badge, to 
the Pavilion in the ravine and afterward to its 
successor the Amphitheater, where Chautauqua 
songs were sung, and an address given by an orator, 
the President of the Normal Alumni introducing 
the speaker. It may have been in 1877, or maybe 
in a later year, that John B. Gough was the orator 
of the evening; and he began his address in this 
wise: 

I don't know why I have been chosen to speak to the 
Alumni of Chautauqua, unless it is because I am an 
Alumni myself, if that is the right word for one of 



A NEW NAME AND NEW FACES 109 

them. I am an alumni of Amherst College; MA., 
Master of Arts. I have a diploma, all in Latin. I 
can't read a word of it, and don't know what it means, 
but those long Latin words look as if they must mean 
something great. When I was made an altmini I sat 
on the platform of the Commencement Day; the 
salutatorian — they told me that was his title — came 
up and began to speak in Latin. He said something 
to the President, and he bowed and smiled as if he 
understood it. He turned to the trustees, and spoke 
to them and they looked as wise as they could. He 
said something to the graduating class, and they 
seemed to enjoy it — all in Latin; and I hadn't the 
remotest idea what it was all about. I kept saying to 
myself, "I wish that he would speak just one word 
that I could understand." Finally, the orator turned 
straight in my direction and said, "Ignoramus!" I 
smiled, and bowed, just as the others had. There was 
one word that I could understand, and it exactly fitted 
my case! 

On the lecture platform of 1877, the outstanding 
figure was the massive frame, the Jupiter-like 
head, and the resonant voice of Joseph Cook, one 
of the foremost men of that generation in the 
reconciliation of science with religion — if the twain 
ever needed a reconcilation. He gave six lectures, 
listened to by vast audiences. The one most 
notable was that entitled, "Does Death End All?'* 
in which he assembled a host of evidences, outside 
of the Scriptures, pointing to the sours immortal- 



no THE STORY OP CHAUTAUQUA 

ity. Joseph Cook is well-nigh forgotten in this 
day, but in his generation he was an undoubted 
power as a defender of the faith. 

If we were to name the Rev. James M. Buck- 
ley, D.D., in the account of each year when 
he spoke in the platform and the subjects of 
his addresses, there would be room in our record 
for few other lecturers. He was present at the 
opening session in 1874, and at almost every 
session afterward for more than forty years, — 
aggressive in debate, instantaneous in repartee, 
marvelous in memory of faces and facts, and ready 
to speak upon the widest range of subjects. Every 
year. Dr. Buckley held a question-drawer, and 
few were the queries that he could not answer; 
although in an emergency he might dodge a 
difficulty by telling a story. For many years 
he was the editor of the Christian Advocate in New 
York, known among Methodists as the **Great 
Official"; and he made his paper the champion of 
conservatism, for he was always ready to break a 
lance in behalf of orthodox belief or the Methodist 
system. Another speaker this year was Dr. P. S. 
Henson, a Baptist pastor successively in Phila- 
delphia, in Chicago, and in Boston, but by no 
means Hmited to one parish in his ministry. He 
spoke under many titles, but most popularly on 



A NEW NAME AND NEW PACES in 

*'Fools," and "The Golden Calf," and he knew 
how to mingle wisdom and wit in just proportions. 
Abundant as were his resources in the pulpit and 
on the platform, some of us who sat with him at the 
table or on a fallen tree in the forest, thought 
that he was even richer and more delightful, as well 
as sagacious in his conversation. Dr. Charles F. 
Deems, pastor of the Church of the Stranger in 
New York, also came to Chautauqua for the first 
time this year. He was at home equally in 
theology, in science, and on the questions of the 
day, with a remarkable power of making truth 
seemingly abstruse simple to common people. 
I recall a lecture on a scientific subject, at which 
he saw on the front seat two boys, and he made it 
his business to address those boys and simplify his 
message seemingly for them while in reality for 
his entire audience. But we cannot even name the 
speakers who gave interest to the program of 

1877. 

One event of that season, however, must not be 
omitted, for it became the origin of one note- 
worthy Chautauqua custom. Mr. S. L. Greene, 
from Ontario, Canada, a deaf-mute, gave an 
address before a great audience in the Auditorium 
under the trees. He spoke in the sign-language, 
telling several stories from the gospels; and so 



112 THE STORY OF CHAUTAUQUA 

striking were his silent symbols that everyone 
could see the picture. We were especially struck 
with his vivid representation of Christ stilling the 
tempest. As he closed, the audience of at least 
two thousand burst into applause, clapping their 
hands. Dr. Vincent came forward, and said, 
* 'The speaker is unable to hear your applause; 
let us wave our handkerchiefs instead of clapping 
our hands." 

In an instant the grove was transformed into a 
garden of white lilies dancing under the leaves of 
the trees, or as some said, "into a snow-covered 
field." The Superintendent of Instruction then 
and there adopted the Chautauqua Salute of the 
waving handkerchiefs as a token of special honor. 
It is sparingly given, only two or three times during 
the season, and never except when called for by the 
head of Chautauqua in person. 

At the annual commemoration on **01d First 
Night" the Chautauqua salute is now given in a 
peculiar manner to the memory of Lewis Miller 
and other leaders who are no longer among us. 
At the call of the President, the handkerchiefs 
are slowly raised and held in absolute stillness for a 
moment ; then as silently lowered. The Chautau- 
qua salute is one of the traditions observed in 
minutest detail after the manner of the Founders. 



A NEW NAME AND NEW FACES 113 

Among the early issues of the Assembly Herald 
appear some verses worthy of a place in our 
history. 

THE CHAUTAUQUA SALUTE 
By May M. Bisbee 

Have you heard of a wonderful lily 

That blooms in the fields of air? 
With never a stem or a pale green leaf, 

Spotless, and white, and fair ? 
Unnamed in the books of wise men. 

Nor akin to the queenly rose; 
But the white Chautauqua lily 

Is the fairest flower that grows. 

Never in quiet meadows, 

By brookside cool and green, 
In garden-plot, nor in forest glen, 

This wonderful flower is seen. 
It grows in goodly companies, 

A theme for the poet's pen; 
It loves not silence, nor cold nor dark, 

But it blooms in the haunts of men. 

The nation trails its great men 

Of high and honored name. 
With clapping of hands and roll of drums 

And trump that sings of fame; 
But a sweet and silent greeting 

To the ones we love the best, 
Are the white Chautauqua lilies 

In our summer home of rest. 



114 THE STORY OF CHAUTAUQUA 

When the beautiful vesper service 

Has died on the evening air, 
And a thousand happy faces 

Are raised at the close of prayer, 
The voice of our well-loved leader 

Rings out in its clear-toned might; 
" We will give our salutation 

To an honored guest to-night." 

Then out of the speaking silence 

The white wings rise to air, 
Faintest of flutter and softest of sound, 

Hail to the lilies rare ! 
Thousands and tens of thousands, 

Swiftly the lilies grow, 
Till the air is filled with the fluttering flowers, 

As the winter air with snow. 

Hail to the fair white lilies ! 

Sweetest of salutations ! 
The love of a thousand hearts they bear 

The greeting of the nations. 
The fairest of earth-born flowers 

Must wither by-and-by; 
But the lilies that live in the hearts they hail 

Will never, never die. 

O cold blast, spare the lily-bed 

That bears the wonderful flower ! 
Give largely, O sky, of summer sun. 

Largely of summer shower, 
Till the white flowers born in our summer home 

To earth's outermost rim be given; 
And the lilies open their cups of snow 

In the garden beds of heaven. 



A NEW NAME AND NEW FACES 115 

At the final meeting of the Assembly in 1877, 
on Monday evening, August 20th, Dr. Vincent 
outlined some plans for the coming year, — a large 
hotel to replace the tented walls of the Pavilion 
Palace, a new meeting-place to be built with walls 
and roof over the natural amphitheater in the 
ravine, some further courses of study, and many 
improvements to the grounds. Then he added, 
*'And I shall not be surprised if — ^well, I will 
not tell you — I have another dream I will not 
give you." (A voice : ** Let's have it.") "No, I am 
going to hold that back, so you will want me to 
come next year. But I believe that something 
higher and larger is just out yonder in the near 
future. Next summer, if we all live, I will tell you 
about it." We shall see in the coming chapter 
what that new development of Chautauqua was to 
be, — the greatest in its history, and perhaps the 
greatest in the history of education through the 
land. 



CHAPTER VIII 

THE CHAUTAUQUA READING CIRCLE 

The "dream" of which Dr. Vincent gave a hint 
at the close of the 1877 Assembly was destined to 
become a reality in 1878. That year marks a 
golden milestone in the history of Chautauqua, for 
then was launched The Chautauqua Literary and 
Scientific Circle^ that goodly vessel which has 
sailed around the world, has carried more than a 
half-million of passengers, and has brought 
inspiration and intelligence to multitudes un- 
numbered. The conception arose in its author's 
mind from the consciousness of his own intellectual 
needs. He had longed, but vainly, for the 
privilege of higher education in the college, but in 
his youth there were no Boards of Education with 
endowments extending a helping hand to needy 
students. His school-days ended in the academy, 
but not his education, for he was to the end of 
his life a student, reading the best books, even 
when their subjects and style demanded a trained 

mind. As one who knew him well and for more 

116 




Flower Girls on Recognition Day 




Flower Girls of 1894 
Elizabeth Vincent and Paul Harper leading 



CHAUTAUQUA READING CIRCLE 117 

than a generation, I may say without hesitation 
that John Heyl Vincent possessed more knowledge 
and richer culture than nine out of ten men holding 
a college diploma. 

But his heart went out in sympathy toward 
others who like himself had missed the opportunity 
of dwelling in college-cloisters, toward workers on 
the farm, at the forge, in the store, in the office, 
in the kitchen, and in the factory, whose longings 
were like his own. Many of these would read 
good books and drink at **the Pierian Spring," if 
only they knew where to find the fountain — ^in 
other words, if some intelligent, well-read person 
would direct them, and place the best books 
in their way. Gradually it dawned upon his mind 
that everyone has some margin of time, at least 
half an hour among the tweny-four, which 
might be made useful under wise counsel to win 
knowledge. He had not heard of that sentence 
spoken by the great President of Harvard, that 
"ten minutes a day, for ten years of a life, with 
the right books, will give any one an education." 
Indeed, that wise utterance came after the Chau- 
tauqua Circle had been established and was 
already giving guidance to many thousand people. 

The conception came to Dr. Vincent of a course 
of reading, which might become to the diligent a 



ii8 THE STORY OF CHAUTAUQUA 

course of study, to include the principal subjects 
of a college curriculum, all in the English language, 
omitting the mathematical and technical depart- 
ments of science; a course that would give to its 
careful reader, not the mental discipline of four 
years in college, but something of the college out- 
look upon life and letters. It was to embrace 
the histories of the great nations that shaped 
the world — Israel, Greece, Rome, Great Britain, 
and America, — with shorter sketches of other 
important lands ; a view over the literature of the 
ages, not in the original Greek, Latin, or German, 
but as translated into our own tongue, presented 
in a manner to give general understanding to the 
many, and also to awaken the aspiring reader by 
pointing out the path to thorough knowledge. 
There are tens of thousands who have studied the 
Bible only in the English version, yet could pass a 
better examination upon its contents than many 
graduates of the theological seminary. One might 
read such an account of Homer^s Odyssey, or 
Virgirs JS,neidy or Dante's Paradiso, or Goethe's 
Faust, as would inspire him to seek and study a 
complete translation of these masterpieces. Dr. 
Edward Everett Hale, from the beginning one of 
the counselors of the Chautauqua Course, said 
that it gives to its students "the language of the 



CHAUTAUQUA READING CIRCLE 119 

time"; not a full detailed knowledge, but such a 
general view as enables him to understand allusions 
and references, to be at home with the thinkers and 
writers of the age. 

The Chautauqua Circle was not planned for 
specialists, seeking full knowledge upon one sub- 
ject, but for general readers. Before it was inau- 
gurated there was already established in Boston 
the Society for the Encouragement of Home Study. 
The student who desired aid through this use- 
ful organization was expected to select some one 
department of knowledge, and then a list of 
books or articles would be sent to him, with 
suggestions, questions, and an examination. If 
historical, it would not be history in general, but 
the history of one country, or one period in its 
annals. It might be the American, or French, or 
English Revolution — ^very thorough, but only for 
one seeking special knowledge. But the Chau- 
tauqua plan contemplated a general round of 
knowledge — history, literature, science, natural 
and social, art, and religion: and this broad con- 
ception was one great secret of its success. A 
story which is typical was told the writer of this 
volume as an absolute fact by one who claimed 
to know the persons referred to. A young lady 
called upon her pastor with this request; 



120 THE STORY OP CHAUTAUQUA 

"I wish that you would tell me of some good 
books to read. I'm tired of reading nothing 
but novels, and want to find some books that are 
worth while. Can't you give me the names of 
some such books ? " 

The minister thought a moment, and then said 
slowly, "Well, what kind of books do you want — 
religious books, for instance?" 

*'No," said the girl, **I do not know as I wish to 
read about religion. I get that in the church and 
the Sunday School. But there must be some good 
books of other kinds — can't you tell me of them? " 

'*What would you think of a course of reading 
in history ? ' ' asked the pastor. Her face brightened 
somewhat, and she answered, "Why, I think that 
I might like to read history. What would you 
recommend for me?" 

The minister glanced at his own shelves, thought 
a moment, and then said, "Well, I can't all at once 
name a course on such an important subject as 
history. Come next Wednesday, and I'll have a 
list of good books for you." 

She came, and he showed her a formidable 
catalogue of books, saying : 

"I have done the best that I could do, but the 
list is longer than I had expected. It includes 
eighty volumes. I wrote down one hundred and 



CHAUTAUQUA READING CIRCLE 121 

twenty volumes at first, but cut it down to eighty, 
and it cannot be made shorter, not by a single 
volume. In fact, it is not as complete as it 
should be. You will begin with the greatest book 
of history in all literature — Gibbon's Decline and 
Fall of the Roman Empire, in nine volumes ! " 

The young lady was appalled, and never went 
through the first chapter of Gibbon*s mighty work. 
This was before the Chautauqua Home Reading 
Course was evolved. After that had been launched 
any intelligent minister, or helpful librarian, would 
simply have said to the enquirer, **Send for a 
circular of the C. L. S. C; that will give you 
exactly what you need.** 

There comes to my own mind a vivid remem- 
brance of that evening when for the first time I 
heard those magic words — *'The Chautauqua 
Literary and Scientific Circle." In the early 
spring of 1878, Dr. Vincent had just returned from 
an official visit to Europe, and I was no longer at 
Plainfield, five minutes' walk from his home, but 
by the revolution of the itinerant wheel a pastor, 
thirty miles distant. A message came asking 
me to spend an evening with him and talk over 
some new plans for Chautauqua. Of course, I 
obeyed the call, for I always gained more than I 
gave in any conversation with that fruitful mind. 



122 THE STORY OF CHAUTAUQUA 

We sat in front of the fireplace in his study, and 
I listened while for an hour he talked of a new 
organization which he proposed to launch in the 
coming season, to be named The Chautauqua 
Literary and Scientific Circle; with a course of 
study to be carried through four years, with forty 
minutes as each day's task, for nine or ten months 
of each year, in the various branches of knowledge, 
analogous to the four years of college study. He 
was so full of his theme and so eloquent upon it 
that I could only listen to the outpouring utter- 
ances. The general purpose was clear before him, 
but not the details of its operation. Dr. Vincent's 
eyes were ever set upward toward the mountain- 
tops glorious in the sunlight, and he did not always 
think of the thickets to be cut and the path to be 
made from the lower plain to the summit. I could 
see some of the difficulties in the way, some 
obstacles that must be overcome, and sagely shook 
my head in doubt of the scheme. It was a radical 
departure from the earlier ideals, for thus far 
everything on the Chautauqua program had been 
along the line of Simday School training, and this 
was a forsaking of the well-trodden path for a new 
world of secular education. Why try to rival the 
high schools and arouse the criticism of the col- 
leges? How would the regular constituency 




Pioneer Hall: Class of 1882. C. L. S. C. 




Old College Building 



CHAUTAUQUA READING CIRCLE 123 

of Chautauqua feel at this innovation? No 
doubt under the spell of his enthusiasm, some 
would join the proposed class in literature and 
science — but how could science be studied by un- 
trained people without laboratories, or apparatus, 
or teachers? And after the spell of the Chau- 
tauqua season would not the pledges be forgotten 
at home, and the numbers in the home classes 
soon dwindle away to nothing? 

Dr. Vincent asked me a question as we sat in the 
glow of the fireplace. "How many do you think 
can be depended on to carry on such a course as is 
proposed?" 

"Oh, perhaps a hundred!" I answered. 
"People who want to read will find books, and 
those who don't care for reading will soon tire of 
serious study." 

The doctor sprang up from his chair and walked 
nervously across the room. "I tell you, Mr. 
Hurlbut, the time will come when you will see a 
thousand readers in the C. L. S. C." 

I smiled, the smile of kindly unbelief! His 
impulse, his dream was noble, to be sure, but so 
utterly impracticable. I tell this little tale to 
show how far below the reality were the expec- 
tations of us both. Only a few years after this 
conversation the enrolled members of the 



124 THE STORY OF CHAUTAUQUA 

C. L. S. C. counted sixty thousand readers pursu- 
ing the course at one time, with probably as many 
more readers unregistered. 

The opening evening of the Assembly was held 
on Tuesday evening, August 6th. The vesper 
service beginning, ''The Day goeth away, The 
Shadows of evening are stretched out, Praise 
waiteth for Thee, O God, in Zion," etc., was read 
responsively in the Auditorium between the 
Miller Cottage and the Vincent tent, then not far 
from the Point, when a sudden shower fell and a 
general rush was made to the new Pavilion in the 
ravine on the west. That was the last opening 
service attempted out-of-doors. Since that even- 
ing, the Pavilion, soon to become the Amphi- 
theater, has supplied the stage for the speakers, 
sedate or humorous, short or long, — some of them 
longer than the audience desired— on **01d First 
Night." A few lectures were given from time to 
time in the old Auditorium, but after the season of 
1879 it was left for smaller meetings of couples 
in communion of soul on the seats here and there 
under the trees. 

The inauguration of the Chautauqua Literary 
and Scientific Circle took place in the Pavilion 
on the afternoon of Saturday, August 10, 1878. 
On the platform, then lower than most of the seats, 



CHAUTAUQUA READING CIRCLE 125 

were a telescope, a microscope, a globe, some 
scientific apparatus, and a table filled with books, 
giving a scholastic setting to the exercises. Dr. 
Vincent presided, and with him were Bishop 
Randolph S. Foster of Boston, Dr. Henry W. War- 
ren of Philadelphia, himself two years afterward 
to become a bishop. Professor William C. Wilkin- 
son, whose pen in the following years wrote many 
books for the readers of the C. L. S. C, Professor 
James Strong of wide learning, and several other 
eminent men. The address of the day, unfolding 
the purpose and plan of the Circle, was given by 
Dr. Vincent. Many of us who heard him on that 
afternoon have thought since that this was the 
masterpiece of his lifetime, and it might worthily 
be so, for it launched a movement in education, 
the most influential and wide-reaching of any in 
the annals of the nation. 

I wish that it were possible to reprint that great 
address as reported in full in the Assembly Herald ^ 
for never was the conception of Chautauqua at 
home for nine months of the year more clearly set 
forth, but a few quotations and outlines must suffice. 
He began by calling attention to four classes of 
people. First, those who inherit from their 
ancestors wealth, ease, and large intellectual 
opportunities, who find college doors opening 



126 THE STORY OF CHAUTAUQUA 

almost of their own accord before them. Second, 
there are those bom under the necessity of daily 
toil. For these the education of the public school 
is provided ; but it is limited and rarely appreciated. 
Children go to school to get knowledge enough for 
bread-winning and no more. Third, there are 
those who, bom under necessity, struggle into 
opportunity, fight their way up into power, and 
make themselves the intellectual heroes of their 
time. Fourth, there are many bom under neces- 
sity, who lack the vision at the beginning, who 
enter upon a life of trade or labor which may bring 
them success, but who gradually awake to realize 
how much they have lost, without realizing that it 
is never too late to gain culture and that education 
ends only with life. This is the class in every 
community which our new organization aims to 
reach, to uplift, to inspire and stimulate. We 
propose to give to these people in every walk of 
life, both the rich, the middle class, and the poor — 
all in one class in their condition and their needs — 
the college student's outlook upon the world of 
thought, by short studies in literature and science, 
by the reading of books, by the preparation of 
synopses of books read, by written reports of books 
read, and by correspondence with experts in the 
several departments. 



CHAUTAUQUA READING CIRCLE 127 

Here are some of the advantages of this organi- 
zation: It will develop higher and nobler tastes, 
increase mental power, exalt home-life, giving author- 
ity and home-help in public school studies and organiz- 
ing homes into reading circles. It will counteract 
the influence of our modern pernicious literature and 
sweeten and enrich the daily lives of poor and hard- 
working people. It will bring the more cultivated 
people into contact with the less scholarly, promote 
a true appreciation of science, and tend to increase 
the spiritual life and power of the church. All knowl- 
edge becomes glorified in the man whose heart is 
consecrated to God. 

As I copy these words in the year 1920, more than 
forty years after they were spoken and printed, with 
each sentence there rise to my mind instances that 
have come to my own knowledge of every one of 
these prophecies fulfilled. Chautauqua through its 
home-reading course has accomplished far more 
than its founder even dreamed. 

The speaker answered an objection to the plan 
of study based upon its superficiality. 

Superficial it is, and so is any college course of 
study. The boy who stands at the close of his senior 
year, on Commencement Day, to receive his parch- 
ment and whatever honors belong to him, who does 
not feel that his whole course has been superficial, 
will not be likely to succeed in the after struggle of life. 
But superficiality is better than absolute ignorance. 
It is better for a man to take a general survey, to 



128 THE STORY OF CHAUTAUQUA 

catch somewhere a point that arrests him; for the man 
who never takes a survey never catches the point in 
which dwell the possibilities of power for him. When 
you sow seed, it is not the weight of the seed put into 
the soil that tells, it is the weight of the harvest that 
comes after. 

Here are some of the closing words of the address : 

How glad I should be if I should find in the future 
years that more boys and girls are going to our high 
schools and universities because of the impulse re- 
ceived here at Chautauqua ! And I say to you : with 
all your getting, get understanding. Look through 
microscopes, but find God. Look through telescopes, 
but find God. Look for Him revealed in the throb- 
bing life about you, in the palpitating stars above, in 
the marvelous records of the earth beneath you, and in 
your own souls. Study the possibilities which God 
unfolds, and make of yourself all that you can. The 
harder the struggle, the brighter the crown. Have 
faith and holy purpose. Go on to know and to will, 
to do and be. When outward circumstances dis- 
courage, trample the circumstances under foot. Be 
master of circumstances, like the king that God has 
called you to be. God give you such hearts, such toil, 
such triumphs, and give you such masterhood as shall 
one day place you among the kings and priests of a 
redeemed and purified universe ! 

After the applause following this address sub- 
sided, a poem was read, written for the occasion 
by the ever-ready Mary A. Lathbury. It pictured 



CHAUTAUQUA READING CIRCLE 129 

the modern Chautauqua as representing the old 
Jerusalem which pilgrims sought for worship and 
inspiration. We can only quote its final stanzas: 

The Life of God is shining 

Upon her where she stands; 
And leaf by leaf unfolding 

Within her reverent hands, 
The earth and seas and heavens 

Disclose her secrets old, 
And every force of Nature 

Reveals its heart of gold! 
Now knoweth she the answer 

That ends the schoolmen's strife, — 
That knowledge bears no blossom 

Till quickened by the Life. 

O holy, holy city! 

The life of God with men! 
Descending out of heaven 

To ne'er ascend again. 
O Light, O Life immortal! 

One sea above, below! 
If unto us be given 

That blessed thing, — to know — 
Hope's beatific vision. 

And Faith's prophetic sight 
Shall die before the fullness 
■ Of that unclouded Light. 

After the reading of the poem, Dr. Vincent said, 
**In the preparation for this important occasion, I 
have consulted some of the most experienced and 



130 THE STORY OP CHAUTAUQUA 

practical educators of the country, and from a 
number of distinguished gentlemen I have received 
letters relating to this movement." 

We can only quote a sentence or two from a few 
of these letters. 

Dr. Lyman Abbott wrote: 

It seems to me if you can lay out such plans of 
study, particularly in the departments of practical 
science, as will fit our boys and young men in the min- 
ing, manufacturing, and agricultural districts to 
become, in a true though not ambitious sense of the 
term, scientific and intelligent miners, mechanics, and 
farmers, you will have done more to put down strikes 
and labor riots than an army cou Id ; and more to solve 
the labor problem than will be done by the Babel- 
builders of a hundred labor-reform conventions. 

Professor Luther T. Townsend, of Boston 

University : 

Your plan for the promotion of Christian culture in 
art, science, and literature, among the masses of the 
American people, strikes me as one of the grandest 
conceptions of the nineteenth century. 

Dr. A. A. Hodge, of Princeton: 

The scheme is a grand one, and only needs to insure 
its success that efficient administration which has 
so eminently characterized all your enterprises. 
History and nature are the spheres in which God 
exercises his perfections, through which they are 







t-i 



CHAUTAUQUA READING CIRCLE 131 

manifested t o us . All human knowledge should be com- 
prehended in the one system of which Christ is the cen- 
ter, and illuminated with the light of revelation. 

Dr. Arthur Oilman: 

Your fears of ''superficiality" do not trouble me. 
For your course will probably aim rather to direct 
the mind toward the way in which you wish it to 
develop, than store it with the details of knowledge. 
You wish to awaken, rather than cultivate. 

Dr. Howard Crosby, of New York: 

Your scheme to induce business men and others 
to pursue useful courses of reading in science and 
history is worthy of all commendation. While we 
cannot expect to make such persons scientists or 
scholars, we may expect them to become appreciative 
of things scientific or scholarly, and to be able to 
discriminate between the false and the true. 

He added some valuable suggestions regarding 
the kind of books that should be chosen; and the 
hope that the course, instead of becoming a substi- 
tute for the college, might lead to the college. 

Dr. Charles F. Deems, of New York, gave his 
heartiest approval of the plan, and stated that he 
was holding in his own church classes in all the 
departments named, and would enroll them under 
the Chautauqua system, with exd^minations and 
the diploma at the completion of the course. 



132 THE STORY OF CHAUTAUQUA 

Dr. William F. Warren, President of Boston 
University, wrote a letter in which he said : 

You are aiming to secure that without which 
every system of education is weak, and with which any 
is strong; namely, interested personal home work 
the year round. And you seem to carry these home 
students to the point where they can go alone, if they 
cannot have the help of the schools. 

One of these letters must be given in full, not- 
withstanding its length. Dr. Vincent introduced 
it with an account of his interview with its author, 
the venerable William CuUen Bryant, the oldest 
of his group — the American poets of the mid- 
century. 

I wrote him afterward a long letter [said Dr. 
Vincent], defining the scheme more fully. While 
in London a few weeks ago I received from him the 
following letter, written with his own hand, — ^written 
but a few weeks before his death. This letter has 
never been read in public and has never been in print. 

New York, May i8, 1878. 
My dear Sir, 

I cannot be present at the meeting called to organize 
the Chautauqua Literary and Scientific Circle, but I 
am glad that such a movement is on foot, and wish 
it the fullest success. There is an attempt to make 
science, or a knowledge of the laws of the material 
universe, an ally of the school which denies a separate 
spiritual existence and a future life; in short, to borrow 



CHAUTAUQUA READING CIRCLE 133 

of science weapons to be used against Christianity. 
The friends of religion, therefore, confident that one 
truth never contradicts another, are doing wisely 
when they seek to accustom the people at large to 
think and to weigh evidence as well as to believe. 
By giving a portion of their time to a vigorous training 
of the intellect, and a study of the best books, men 
gain the power to deal satisfactorily with questions 
with which the mind might otherwise have become 
bewildered. It, is true that there is no branch of 
human knowledge so important as that which teaches 
the duties that we owe to God and to each other, and 
that there is no law of the universe, sublime and 
wonderful as it may be, so worthy of being made fully 
known as the law of love, which makes him who obeys 
it a blessing to his species, and the universal observance 
of which would put an end to a large proportion of the 
evils which affect mankind. Yet is a knowledge of 
the results of science, and such of its processes as lie 
most open to the popular mind, important for the 
purpose of showing the different spheres occupied by 
science and religion, and preventing the inquirer from 
mistaking their divergence from each other for 
opposition. 

I perceive this important advantage in the proposed 
organization, namely, that those who engage in it will 
mutually encourage each other. It will give the 
members a common pursuit, which always begets a 
feeling of brotherhood; they will have a common topic 
of conversation and discussion, and the consequence 
will be, that many who, if they stood alone, might soon 
grow weary of the studies which are recommended to 
them, will be incited to perseverance by the interest 
which they see others taking in them. It may happen 



134 THE STORY OF CHAUTAUQUA 

in rare instances that a person of eminent mental 
endowments, which otherwise might have remained 
uncultivated and unknown, will be stimulated in 
this manner to diligence, and put forth unexpected 
powers, and, passing rapidly beyond the rest, become 
greatly distinguished, and take a place among the 
luminaries of the age. 

I shall be interested to watch, during the little 
space of life that may yet remain to me, the progress 
and results of the plan which has drawn from me 
this letter. 

I am. Sir, 

Very truly yours, 

W. C. Bryant. 

The distinguished writer of this letter died only 
a month and four days after writing it, on June 12, 
1878, as the result of a sunstroke while he was 
making an address at the unveiling of a statue in 
the Central Park. He was in the eighty-fifth year 
of his age. 

After some short addresses by men on the plat- 
form, Bishop Foster, Professor Wilkinson, Dr. 
Strong, and others. Dr. Vincent announced as the 
first book of the course, Green's Short History of the 
English People, and invited all desirous of joining 
the C. L. S. C. to write their names and addresses 
upon slips of paper and hand them to anyone on the 
platform. It might have been supposed that 
a circular would be ready containing a statement 



CHAUTAUQUA READING CIRCLE 135 

of the course for the first year, regulations 
and requirements of the organization, the fee of 
membership, etc.; but in the enthusiasm of the 
time those desirable requisites had been forgotten. 
Everybody looked around for a slip of paper. 
Visiting cards were made useful, margins were 
torn off newspapers, and there was an overwhelm- 
ing rush toward the platform to join the new 
circle. On that afternoon seven hundred names 
were received and the number grew hourly until 
the close of the Assembly. Nearly all the regular 
year-by-year visitors to Chautauqua became 
members of this "Pioneer Class," as it was after- 
wards named; and to this day its fellowship, after 
forty-two years, still continues one of the largest 
at its annual gatherings in Pioneer Hall, the build- 
ing which it erected as its home. 

The book-store was crowded with applicants 
for Green's History, and the few copies on hand, 
not more than half a dozen, were instantaneously 
disposed of. An order was telegraphed to the 
Harper Brothers in New York for fifty copies, on 
the next morning for fifty more, then for another 
hundred, day after day the demand increasing. 
The Harpers were astounded at the repeated calls, 
and telegraphed for particulars as to the reason 
why everybody at an almost unknown place 



136 THE STORY OF CHAUTAUQUA 

called Chautauqua had gone wild in demand for 
this book. Their stock on hand was exhausted 
long before the Assembly was ended, and most 
of the members of this "Class of 1882" were 
compelled to wait a month or more for their books. 
Public libraries were by no means numerous in 
those days while Andrew Carnegie was making 
the millions to be spent later in establishing them, 
but wherever they were, Green's Short History 
was drawn out, and a waiting list made for it, 
to the amazement of librarians, who vainly pro- 
posed the substitution of other standard English 
histories. Whoever could buy, borrow, or beg a 
copy of Green, rejoiced — we hope that no Chau- 
tauquan, in his hunger for literature, stole one, but 
we are not sure. People otherwise honest have been 
known to retain borrowed umbrellas and books. 

In the Class of 1882 eight thousand four hundred 
names were enrolled, for the members brought 
home from Chautauqua the good news, and 
families, neighbors, and friends everywhere sent 
in their applications. Later we shall learn what 
proportion of these followed the course through 
the four years and marched under the arches to 
their Recognition as graduates. 

An addition had been made to the grounds on 
the west, and here Dr. Vincent chose a square 



CHAUTAUQUA READING CIRCLE 137 

shaded by abundant beech-trees, as the center 
and home of the C. L. S. C. He named it St. 
Paul's Grove, choosing the apostle who repre- 
sented the combination of the fervent heart and 
the cultured mind, an ideal for all Chautauquans. 
Besides Dr. Vincent's address at this time, an- 
other was given by Governor A. H. Colquitt of 
Georgia, President of the International Sunday 
School Convention. The dedicatory prayer was 
offered by Bishop Foster and an appropriate 
hymn written by Dr. Hyde of Denver was sung 
by Professor Sherwin and his choir. St. Paul's 
Grove, and its pillared temple soon to rise, will 
appear often in our story as one of the sacred spots 
at Chautauqua. 

We must not overlook the daily program during 
this epoch-making season of 1878. There were 
the daily classes studying Greek and Hebrew 
under Drs. Strong and Vail. There was a class 
in microscopy, with the Misses Lattimore; there 
was the normal class with a full number of students 
ending with the successful examination of more 
than one hundred and forty new members of the 
Normal Alumni Association. The annual reunion 
of the Normal Alumni was celebrated with 
the usual banners, procession, address, the illumi- 
nated fleet and fireworks. 



138 THE STORY OF CHAUTAUQUA 

The lecture platform of 1878 stood at as high 
a level as ever. If any one speaker bore off the 
honors of that year, it was Bishop Randolph 
S. Foster of the Methodist Episcopal Church, 
whose lectures on "Beyond the Grave" drew the 
largest audiences and aroused the deepest interest. 
They were afterward published in a volume which 
attracted wide attention, and brought some 
criticism from preachers of the conservative 
school. There were even some who talked of an 
impeachment and trial, but they did not venture 
to bring the greatest thinker and theologian in 
their church to the bar. Other lecturers who 
made their mark were Dr. Robert M. Hatfield 
of Chicago, President Charles H. Fowler, Dr. 
(soon after Bishop) John F. Hurst, Dr. John Lord, 
the historian-lecturer, Dr. Joseph Cook, Professor 
William North Rice, Dr. T. DeWitt Talmage, 
with his entertaining lecture on *'Big Blunders," 
and Dr. Charles F. Deems on ''The Superstitions 
of Science." 

One remarkable meeting was held on the after- 
noon of the opening day, Tuesday, August 6th. 
In the Pavilion four men gave in turn the dis- 
tinctive doctrines and usages of their several 
churches. These were the Rev. Mr. Seymour, 
Baptist, Rev. Mr. Williston, Congregationalist, 



CHAUTAUQUA READING CIRCLE 139 

Rev. Dr. Hatfield, Methodist, and Rev. J. A. 
Worden, Presbyterian. Without attempt at con- 
troversy or criticism each speaker named the 
principles for which his branch of the Holy Catho- 
lic Church stood. There was the most cordial feel- 
ing. Each listener believed as strongly as before 
in his own denomination, but many felt a greater 
respect for the other branches of the true vine. At 
the close all the congregation sang together, 

Blest be the tie that binds 
Our hearts in Christian love. 

A new building took its place upon the grounds, 
and speedily became the center of many activities. 
It was called ''The Children's Temple," built 
through the generous gift of President Lewis 
Miller, in the general plan of his Sunday School 
Hall at Akron, Ohio, a central assembly room 
with folding doors opening or closing a number of 
classrooms around it. For many years it was the 
home of the Children's Class, under Rev. B. T. 
Vincent and Frank Beard, which grew to an 
attendance of three hundred daily. They wore 
badges of membership, passed examinations upon 
a systematic course, and received diplomas. 
Soon an Intermediate Department became neces- 
sary for those who had completed the children's 



I 



140 THE STORY OF CHAUTAUQUA 

course, and this also grew into a large body of 
members and graduates: 

A host of events on this great Chautauqua sea- 
son of 1878 must be omitted from this too long 
chapter in our story. 




4) 
U 

o 

■*-' 
Xfl 

O 

o 
pq 

c<i 
O 



CHAPTER IX 

CHAUTAUQUA ALL THE YEAR 

During those early years the Chautauqua 
sessions were strenuous weeks to both Miller and 
Vincent. Mr. Miller brought to Chautauqua for a 
number of seasons his normal class of young people 
from the Akron Sunday School, requiring them to 
attend the Chautauqua normal class and to take 
its examination. He acted also as Superintendent 
of the Assembly Sunday School, which was like 
organizing a new school of fifteen hundred mem- 
bers every Sunday, on account of the constant 
coming and going of students and teachers. But 
Mr. Miller's time and thoughts were so con- 
stantly taken up with secular details, leasing lots, 
cutting down trees, and setting up tents, settling 
disputes with lot holders and ticket holders, and a 
thousand and one business matters great and small 
— especially after successive purchases had more 
than doubled the territory of the Assembly, — that 
he was able to take part in but few of its exercises. 

One out of many perplexing situations may be 

141 



142 THE STORY OF CHAUTAUQUA 

taken as a specimen. In one purchase was 
included a small tract on the lake-shore outside 
the original camp ground, where some families 
from a distance had purchased holdings and built 
small cottages, being independent both of the 
camp-meeting and the Assembly. Some members 
of this colony claimed the right of way to go in and 
out of the Assembly at all times, Sundays as well as 
week-days, to attend lectures and classes without 
purchasing tickets. Others in the older parts of 
the ground under camp-meeting leases declared 
themselves beyond the jurisdiction of new rules 
made by the Assembly trustees. A strong party 
appeared demanding that the lot owners as a body 
should elect the trustees, — which meant that the 
future of a great and growing educational institu- 
tion should be shaped not by a carefully selected 
Board under the guidance of two idealists, — one 
of whom was at the same time a practical business- 
man, a rare combination, — ^but by a gathering 
of lot-holders, not all of them intelligent, and the 
majority people who were keeping boarding- 
houses and were more eager for dollars than for 
culture. I remember a conversation with the 
proprietor of one of the largest boarding-houses 
who urged that the grounds be left open, with no 
gate-fees or tickets; but instead a ticket-booth at 



CHAUTAUQUA ALL THE YEAR 143 

the entrance to each lecture-hall, so that people 
would be required to pay only for such lectures 
and entertainments as they chose to attend! I 
could name some Assemblies calling themselves 
chautauquas, where this policy was pursued; and 
almost invariably one season or at most two 
seasons terminated their history. 

Added to these and other perplexities was the 
ever-present question of finance. The rapid 
growth of the movement caused a requirement of 
funds far beyond the revenue of the Association. 
Its income came mainly from the gate-fees, to 
which was added a small tax upon each lot, and 
the concessions to store-keepers; for the prices 
obtained by the leasing of new lots must be held 
as a sinking fund to pay off the mortgages incurred 
in their purchase. There came also an imperative 
demand for a water-supply through an aqueduct, 
a sewer-system, and other sanitary arrangements 
made absolutely necessary by the increase of 
population. In those years Mr. Miller's purse 
was constantly opened to meet pressing needs, and 
his credit enabled the trustees to obtain loans 
and mortgages. But despite his multitudinous 
cares and burdens, no one ever saw Mr. Miller 
harassed or nervous. He was always unruffled, 
always pleasant, even smiling under the most 



144 THE STORY OF CHAUTAUQUA 

trying conditions. His head was always clear, 
his insight into the needs not only of the time but 
of the future also was always sure, and his 
spinal column was strong enough to stand firm 
against the heaviest pressure. He knew in- 
stinctively when it was wise to condHate, and 
when it was essential to be positive. The present 
generation of Chautauquans can never realize 
how great is their debt of gratitude to Lewis Miller. 
The inventor and manufacturer of harvesting 
machines at Akron and Canton, Ohio, busy at his 
desk for eleven months, found the Swiss Cottage 
beside Chautauqua Lake by no means a place of 
rest during his brief vacation. 

Nor were the burdens upon the other Founder 
lighter than those of his associate. The two men 
talked and corresponded during the year regarding 
the coming program, but the selection, engage- 
ment, and arrangement of the speakers was mainly 
Dr. Vincent's part. At the same hour, often 
half a dozen meetings would be held, and care 
must be taken not to have them in conflict in their 
location and their speakers. Changes in the 
program must often be made suddenly after a 
telegram from some lecturer that he could not 
arrive on the morrow. New features must be 
introduced as the demand and the opportunity 



CHAUTAUQUA ALL THE YEAR 145 

arose, — the Baptists, or Methodists, or Congre- 
gationalists, or Disciples desired a meeting, for 
which an hour and a place must be found. The 
only one who kept the list of the diversified as- 
semblages was Dr. Vincent. He had no secre- 
tary in those days to sit at a desk in an office and 
represent the Superintendent of Instruction. His 
tent at the foot of the grounds was a stage whereon 
entrances and exits were constant. Moreover, the 
audience was apt to measure the importance of a 
lecture by the presence of Dr. Vincent as presiding 
officer or a substitute in his place introducing 
the speaker. The Vincent temperament was less 
even and placid than the Miller; and the Assembly 
of those early years generally closed with its 
Superintendent in a worn-out physical condition. 
And it must not be forgotten that Dr. Vincent 
like his Associate Founder was a busy working 
man all the year. He was in charge of the Sunday 
School work in a great church, supervising Sunday 
Schools in Buenos Ayres, and Kiu-kiang, and 
Calcutta, as well as in Bangor and Seattle. At 
his desk in New York and Plainfield he was the 
editor of nine periodicals, aided by a small number 
of assistants. Several months of every year were 
spent in a visitation of Methodist Conference 
setting forth the work, and stirring up a greater 



146 THE STORY OF CHAUTAUQUA 

interest in it. He was lecturing and preaching and 
taking part in conventions and institutes every- 
where in the land. Chautauqua was only one of 
the many activities occupying his mind, his heart, 
and his time. 

The Assembly of 1878, with the inauguration of 
the C. L. S. C, had been especially exhausting to 
Dr. Vincent. Imagine, if you can, his feelings 
when he found his desks in the office and the home 
piled high with letters concerning the new move- 
ment for Chautauqua readings all the year. He 
was simply overwhelmed by the demands, for 
everybody must have an immediate answer. 
Walking out one day, he met one of the teachers 
of the High School, told her of his difficulties, and 
asked her if she could suggest anyone who might 
relieve him. She thought a moment, and then 
said: 

"I think I know a girl of unusual ability who 
can help you, — Miss Kate Kimball, who was 
graduated from the High School last June, and I 
will send her to you." 

She came, a tall young lady, only eighteen years 
old, with a pair of brown eyes peculiarly bright, 
and a manner retiring though self-possessed. Dr. 
Vincent mentioned some of the help that he re- 
quired, but looked doubtfully at her, and said, 



CHAUTAUQUA ALL THE YEAR 147 

"I am afraid that you are too young to undertake 
this work." 

She answered, "I would Hke to try it; but if you 
find that I am not equal to it, I will not be offended 
to have it given to some other person. Let me see 
if I can help you even a little." 

That was the introduction of Miss Kate Fisher 
Kimball to the work and care of the Chautauqua 
Literary and Scientific Circle, of which she was 
the Executive Secretary until her death in 191 7. 
She was born in i860, at Orange, New Jersey, her 
father. Dr. Horace F. Kimball, being a dentist 
with office in New York. Young as she was, she 
at once showed rare abilities in administration. 
Under her vigorous and wise efforts, the C. L. S, C. 
was soon reduced to a system, the members were 
classified, the course was made orderly, circulars 
of various sorts were prepared and sent out to 
answer as many kinds of questions, and the calls 
from all over the nation, almost all over the world 
were met. Kate Kimball had a wonderful mem- 
ory, as well as a systematic mind. Dr. Vincent 
would tell her in one sentence the answer to be sent 
to a letter, and twenty sentences in succession for 
twenty letters. She made no note, but remem- 
bered each one; would write to each correspondent 
a letter framed as it should be, with a clear state- 



148 THE STORY OF CHAUTAUQUA 

ment, of just the right length, never getting the 
wrong answer on her pen. And if six months 
afterward, or six years, there came a letter requir- 
ing the same answer, she did not need to ask for 
information, but could send the right reply with- 
out consulting the letter-file. Thousands of cor- 
respondents who may never have met her will 
remember that signature, **K. F. Kimball," for 
they have been strengthened and inspired by 
letters signed with it. 

I have heard more than one person say, ' ' I want 
to go to Chautauqua, if it is only to become 
acquainted with K. F. Kimball.'* 

Let me transcribe a few sentences written by 
Mr. Frank Chapin Bray, who as Editor of The 
Chautauquan Magazine, was for years in close 
relation with Miss Kimball. 

Many will always think of her as a kind of Chau- 
tauqua Mother Superior. The details of the work 
of an Executive Secretary are not transcribable f or 
they were multifarious drudgeries year after year 
which defy analysis. During thirty-five years she 
made them the means of transmitting a great idea as 
a dynamic force vital to hundreds of thousands of 
men and women the world around. 

Next to the originating genius of John H. 
Vincent, the influence which made the Chautauqua 



CHAUTAUQUA ALL THE YEAR 149 

Home Reading Course one of the mightiest edu- 
cational forces of the nineteenth century was the 
tireless energy and the executive ability of Kate 
F. Kimball. 

About 1912 she was suddenly taken with an 
illness, not deemed serious at the time, but later 
found to have been a slight paralytic shock. She 
was given a year's vacation from office work and 
spent most of it in England and on the continent. 
Some of her friends think that if she had absolutely 
abstained from work, she might have recovered her 
health; but while in England she visited nearly all 
its great cathedrals, and wrote a series of articles 
for The Chautauguan on "An English Cathedral 
Journey," afterward embodied in one of the best 
of the non-technical books on that subject. She 
returned to her desk, but not in her former vigor. 
Year by year her powers of thought and action 
declined, and she died June 17, 1917, in the fifty- 
seventh year of her age, leaving after her not only a 
precious memory but an abiding influence; for the 
plans initiated by her adaptive mind are still those 
effective in the shaping of the Chautauqua Circle. 

The course of reading for the first year was as 
follows : Green's Short History of the English People; 
with it the little hand-book by Dr. Vincent — 
Chautauqua Text-Book No. 4, Outline of English 



150 THE STORY OF CHAUTAUQUA 

History; an arrangement by periods, enabling the 
reader to arrange the events in order; Chautauqua 
Text-Book No. 5, Outline of Greek History; Pro- 
fessor Mahaffy's Old Greek Life; Stopford Brooke's 
Primer of English Literature; Chautauqua Text- 
Book No. 2, Studies of the Stars; Dr. H. W. V^aX' 
ren^^ Recreations in Astronomy;']. Dorman Steele's 
Human Psychology; Dr. J. F. Hurst's, Outlines of 
Bible History y and The Word of God Opened, by 
Rev. Bradford K. Pierce. This included no less 
than eleven books, although four of them were the 
small Chautauqua textbooks, Nos. 2, 4, 5, and 6. 
All that was definitely required of the members 
was that they should sign a statement that these 
books had been read ; but through the year a series 
of sheets was sent to each enrolled member, con- 
taining questions for examination, under the title 
''Outline Menioranda, " in order not to alarm 
the unschooled reader by the terror of an exami- 
nation. Moreover, the student was at liberty to 
search his books, consult any other works, and 
obtain assistance from all quarters in obtaining the 
answers to the questions. These questions were 
of two kinds, one requiring thought on the part of 
the reader, and not susceptible of answer at any 
given page of - the book ; such as : * * Name the 
five persons whom you consider the greatest in 







Hall of the Christ 




Entrance to the Hall of Philosophy 



CHAUTAUQUA ALL THE YEAR 151 

the history of England, and the reasons for your 
choice," ''Name what you regard as five of the 
most important events in English history," etc. 
There were some other questions, of which the 
answer might or might not be found in any books 
of the books of the course, but questions to make 
the reader search and enquire; such as: ''What 
did King John say when he signed Magna Charta?" 
"With what words did Oliver Cromwell dismiss the 
Long Parliament?" "What were the last words 
of Admiral Nelson?" These questions brought 
difficulty, not only to readers, but to school- 
teachers, pastors, and librarians, to whom they 
were propounded by puzzled students. At one 
time I was reading of a convention of librarians, 
where one of the subjects discussed was, how to 
satisfy the hordes of Chautauquans everywhere, 
asking all sorts of curious questions. The veter- 
ans of that premier class of 1882 still remember the 
sheet of the Outline Memoranda prepared by Dr. 
Warren, on his book Recreations in Astronomy. 
There may have been a member or two who suc- 
ceeded in answering them all, but their names 
do not appear on any record. 

Not all those, who in an hour of enthusiasm 
under the spell of Dr. Vincent's address on that 
opening day, wrote their names as members of the 



152 THE STORY OF CHAUTAUQUA 

C. L. S. C. persevered to the bitter end and won 
the diploma. Of the 8400 enrolled in the first 
class, only 1850 were *' recognized" as graduates 
in 1882. Some of the delinquents afterward took 
heart of grace, and finished with later classes. 
But even those who fell out by the way gained 
something, perhaps gained an enduring impulse 
toward good reading. We frequently received 
word of those who had dropped the C. L. S. C. in 
order to obtain a preparation for college. Dr. 
Edward Everett Hale used to tell of a man whom 
he met on a railway train, who made a remark 
leading the doctor to say, "You talk like a Chau- 
tauquan — are you a member of the C. L. S. C?" 
The man smiled and answered, "Well, I don*t 
know whether I am or not. My wife is: she read 
the whole course, and has her diploma framed. I 
read only one book, and then gave up. But any 
institution that can lead a man to read Green's 
Short History of the English People, has done 
considerable for that man!" 

As one by one the required books had been read 
by diligent members, there came urgent requests 
from many for the names of other books, on history, 
on sciences, and especially on the Bible. Dr. Vincent 
and his staff were compelled to look for the best 
books on special courses, supplementing the re- 



CHAUTAUQUA ALL THE YEAR 153 

quired course. By degrees almost a hundred of 
these courses were arranged, and have been pur- 
sued by multitudes. The one who read the 
regular course through four years was to receive a 
diploma; if he answered the questions of very 
simple ** Outline Memoranda," his diploma was 
to bear one seal. If he took the stiff er ''Outline 
Memoranda" described above, his diploma was 
to receive an additional seal for each year's work. 
Each special course was to have its own special 
seal. Any member who read the Bible through 
while pursuing the course, would have a gold crown 
seal upon his diploma. There were some elderly 
people who seemed to have nothing in the world 
to do, but to read special courses, fill out the memo- 
randa, send for seals, and then demand another 
course on Crete or Kamchatka, or the Ten Lost 
Tribes of Israel, until Miss Kimball, her helpers, 
and her literary friends were kept on the jump to 
find books on these various subjects. Hanging 
on the walls of C. L. S. C. classrooms at Chau- 
tauqua are diplomas illuminated with a hundred 
seals or more, sent to the class headquarters as 
memorials of diligent readers who have passed 
away. 

The readers of these seal-courses become mem- 
bers of various ' * orders ' ' of different rank. Those 



154 THE STORY OF CHAUTAUQUA 

whose diplomas show four seals belong to the 
"Order of the White Seal," those who have seven 
seals, to the ''League of the Round Table," and if 
they have fourteen seals or more, the "Guild of 
the Seven Seals." Each of these societies holds 
its annual reunion at Chautauqua, wears its own 
badge, and marches behind its own banner in 
the procession. 

The reference to seals brings us to another 
feature of Chautauqua, and especially of the C. L. 
S. C, which attracted universal attention and led 
many thousands into the charmed circle, — those 
touches of poetry and sentiment, which no one but 
Dr. Vincent could have originated. There were 
the three mottoes of the C. L. S. C. always made 
prominent in its prospectus and announcements, 
"We Study the Word and the Works of God"; 
"Let Us Keep Our Heavenly Father in the Midst" ; 
and "Never be Discouraged." The second of 
these sentences was spoken by the venerable 
Hebraist, Dr. Stephen H. Vail, as with tears upon 
his face he parted with Dr. Vincent, at the session 
of 1877, a year before the announcement of the 
C. L. S. C. There was for each class a name. 
The first class to take a name was that of '84, 
established in 1880. They were continually call- 
ing for class-meetings until Dr. Vincent in his 



CHAUTAUQUA ALL THE YEAR 155 

announcements spoke of them as "those irrepres- 
sible eighty-fours!" Whereupon they promptly 
adopted as their name, "The Irrepressibles," and 
their example was followed by the other classes. 
The class of 1882 took the name, "The Pioneers." 
Classes are known as "The Vincent Class," "The 
Lewis Miller Class" — others are named after 
Shakespeare, Tennyson, Sidney Lanier, etc. The 
class graduating in 1892 commemorated the 
discovery of America four hundred years before, 
by the name "Columbia." Then, too, each class 
has its own flower, which its members seek to 
wear on the great days of the C. L. S. C; 
but only the Pioneer class of 1882 proudly 
bears before it in procession a hatchet, and its 
members wear little hatchets as badges. Dr. 
Hale said that the reason why the Pioneers carry 
hatchets is that "they axe the way!" Each 
class has its own officers and trustees, and 
though all its members are never assembled, and 
can never meet each other, they maintain a strong 
bond of union through correspondence. There 
is the great silk banner of the Chautauqua Circle 
leading the procession on Recognition Day, 
followed by the classes from 1882 until the present, 
each class marching behind its banner. In the 
early days, until the Chautauqua grounds became 



156 THE STORY OF CHAUTAUQUA 

crowded, there was an annual *'Camp Fire," all 
the members in a great circle standing around a 
great bonfire at night singing songs and listening 
to short speeches. These are only a few of the 
social influences which make the C. L. S. C. more 
than merely a list of readers. It is a brotherhood, 
a family bound together by a common interest. 

The opening day of the Chautauqua readings is 
October first. On that day at noon, the members 
of the circle living at Chautauqua and others in 
the adjacent towns meet at the Miller bell tower 
on the Point. As the clock sounds out the hour 
of twelve all present grasp a long rope connected 
with the bells and together pull it, over and over 
again, sounding forth the signal that the Chau- 
tauqua year has begun. It is said that every true 
Chautauquan the world over, from Mayville to 
Hong-Kong, can hear the sound of that bell and 
at the summons open their books for the year's 
reading. 

In one of the earlier years we received at the 
office a letter from the wife of an army officer 
stationed among the Indians, and far from any 
settlement. She wrote that she was a hundred 
and twenty-five miles from any other white 
woman, and felt keenly her loneliness. But on 
the day when her bundle of C. L. S. C. books 



CHAUTAUQUA ALL THE YEAR 157 

arrived, she clasped it to her bosom and wept tears 
of joy over it, for she felt that she was no longer 
alone, but one in a great company who were read- 
ing the same books and thinking the same thoughts 
and enjoying one fellowship. 

In one of the early classes was a young lady who, 
soon after sending in her name, sailed for South 
Africa to become a teacher in a girl's boarding- 
school. One day in the following June, when it 
was in the depth of winter in South Africa, — ^for in 
south latitude our seasons are reversed ; they have 
a saying at the Cape "as hot as Christmas" — she 
came to her classes arrayed in her very best apparel. 
The girls looked at her in surprise and asked 
"Is this your birthday." 

"No," she answered, "but it is the Commence- 
ment Day at Chautauqua in America, and every- 
body dresses up on that day!" 

The thousands of readers in the Chautauqua 
fellowship naturally arranged themselves in two 
classes. About half of them were reading by 
themselves, individuals, each by himself or herself, 
— mostly herself, for at least three-fourths of the 
members were women, and their average age was 
about thirty years. The other half were united 
in groups, "local circles," as they were called. 
Some of these were community circles, people of 



158 THE STORY OF CHAUTAUQUA 

one village or town, irrespective of church re- 
lations; other circles were connected with the 
churches. In those days before the Christian 
Endeavor Society, the Epworth League, and 
other nation-wide organizations had appropriated 
the interest of the young people, the Chautauqua 
Circle was the literary society in many churches. 

I recall the testimony of a Methodist minister 
of those days, given to me when I met him at his 
conference in the Middle West. 

When I was sent to my last church, I learned that 
there was a reading circle among its members, and I 
heard the news with some dismay, for in more than one 
place I had started a literary society and found that it 
was necessary for me to supply all the thought and 
labor to keep it in operation, to plan the course, to 
select people to write papers and persuade them to do 
it, to be ready to fill vacancies on the program. And 
as soon as I stopped supplying steam, the society was 
sure to come to a stand-still. But at this church 
I found a Chautauqua Circle that was taking care of 
itself. Its programs were provided, the members 
were reading a regular course and making their reports ; 
they presided in turn at the meetings, and I was not 
called upon to take any part unless I desired it. Also 
in the prayer-meetings, I could soon recognize the 
members of the Circle by a touch of intelligence in 
their testimonies. 

It is the opinion of the writer that if one could 
ascertain the history of the woman's clubs that 



CHAUTAUQUA ALL THE YEAR 159 

now cover the country, and ascertain their origin, 
it would be found that nearly all of the older 
woman's clubs arose out of Chautauqua Circles 
whose members, after completing the prescribed 
course, took up civics or politics, or literature. 
It would be an interesting study to ascertain how 
far the General Federation of Women's Clubs of 
America was an outgrowth of the Chautauqua 
movement. 



CHAPTER X 

THE SCHOOL OF LANGUAGES 

The year 1879 marked an extension in more than 
one direction of Chautauqua's plans and program. 
The season was lengthened to forty-three days, 
more than double the length of the earlier sessions. 
On July 17th began the classes in The Chautauqua 
Normal School of Languages, held in a rough board- 
walled, white-washed building, which had formerly 
been used as a lodging-house, but was no longer 
needed since cottages had opened their doors to 
guests. This may be regarded as the formal 
opening of the Chautauqua Summer Schools, al- 
though already classes had been held, some of them 
three years, others four years, in Greek, Hebrew, 
and kindergarten instruction. We will name the 
faculty of this year. Greek was taught by a na- 
tive of Greece, Dr. T. T. Timayenis, of New York; 
Latin by Miss Emma M. Hall, of the Detroit High 
School, afterward a missionary-teacher in Rome, 
Italy; Prof. J. H. Worman, of Brooklyn, N. Y., 
taught German, never speaking one word of Eng- 
lish in his classes, although a fluent speaker and 

160 




Congregational House 







't--^PL-i 



._-7«- 2t.':ij.-/ 



Fenton Memorial, Deaconess' House 



THE SCHOOL OF LANGUAGES i6i 

author in English. Prof. A. Lalande was the 
teacher of the French language; Dr. Stephen M. 
Vail continued his classes in Hebrew, and Dr. 
James Strong in Greek; Prof. Bernhard Maimon 
of Chicago, taught Oriental languages; and Prof. 
A. S. Cook, then of Johns Hopkins, but soon after- 
ward of Yale, conducted a class in the study of 
Anglo-Saxon language and literature. These 
studies were pursued from a fortnight before the 
formal opening of the Assembly until its close, 
making courses of six weeks, carried on in an inten- 
sive manner. Each professor pushed his depart- 
ment as though it were the only one in the school, 
and his students could scarcely find time to rest 
themselves by rowing on the lake or walking in the 
woods with their classmates. 

Allied to the School of Languages was the 
Teachers' Retreat, opening at the same time but 
closing just before the Assembly proper. This was 
outside the realm of Sunday School instruction, 
being intended for secular teachers and presenting 
the principles and best methods of education. One 
of its leaders was Prof. J. W. Dickinson, Secretary 
of the Massachusetts State Board of Education, 
an enthusiast as well as a master. He had at his 
command a fund of witticisms and stories, always 
in the direct line of his teaching, which added 



i62 THE STORY OF CHAUTAUQUA 

not a little to the interest of his lectures. I was 
with him at the table for a fortnight, and his juicy 
talk made even a tough steak enjoyable. Asso- 
ciated with Dr. Dickinson were Prof. William F. 
Phelps of Minnesota, Dr. Joseph Alden of the 
State Normal School, Albany, N. Y., and Dr. John 
Hancock, President of the National Teachers' 
Association. In the following year, 1880, the 
School of Languages and Teachers' Retreat were 
united, and the Summer School program was again 
enlarged. Year by year new departments were 
added, until Chautauqua became a summer uni- 
versity, and such it continues to this day, offering 
more than two hundred courses, taught by nearly 
one hundred and fifty instructors. Perhaps the 
most popular courses have always been those in 
physical ctdture, pursued by teachers in public 
and private schools, enabled by Chautauqua to 
make their work in their home schools more effi- 
cient and extensive. One might spend weeks at 
Chautauqua, attending the lectures and concerts 
in the Amphitheater and the Hall, and enjoying 
the bathing and boating opportunities of the Lake, 
yet never realizing that on College Hill, and down 
at the Gymnasium, are nearly five thousand young 
men and young women diligently seeking the 
higher education. 



THE SCHOOL OF LANGUAGES 163 

A third sideline during this season of 1879 was 
the Foreign Mission Institute, held by missionary 
leaders of the Congregational, Methodist, Presby- 
terian, and Baptist organizations, and addressed 
by missionaries at home from many lands. Chau- 
tauqua was a pioneer in bringing together repre- 
sentatives of different churches for conference upon 
their work of winning the world to Christ. This 
series of missionary councils has been continued 
without the omission of a year through all the 
history of Chautauqua since 1879. 

The Sixth Chautauqua Assembly opened on its 
regular evening, the first Tuesday in August, 1879. 
The ravine which had been the seat of the Pavilion 
and birthplace of the C. L. S. C. had been trans- 
formed into a great auditorium of permanent 
materials and fairly comfortable seats for five 
thousand people. It was a great advance upon 
any of the earlier meeting places, and made it no 
longer necessary to carry one*s umbrella to the 
lectures. But a heavy rain on the extensive roof 
would make even the largest-lunged orator in- 
audible, and the many wooden pillars supporting 
the roof had a fashion of getting themselves be- 
tween the speaker and the hearers. Notwith- 
standing these minor drawbacks, it proved to be 
one of the best audience-halls in the land for large 



i64 THE STORY OF CHAUTAUQUA 

assemblies, for its acoustic properties were almost 
perfect. No speaker eve'r heard his words flung 
back to him by an echo, and the orator who knew 
how to use his voice could be heard almost equally- 
well in every corner of the building. When Dr. 
Buckley stood for the first time upon its plat- 
form, and looked at its radiating and ascending 
seats, he said to Dr. Vincent, "This is a genuine 
amphitheater.'' The name was adopted, and the 
Amphitheater became the meeting place for all 
the popular lectures and the great Sunday services. 
Many were the distinguished speakers, men and 
women, who stood upon its platform, and as many 
singers whose voices enraptured throngs. At a 
popular concert almost as many seemed to be 
standing, crowded under the eaves, as were seated 
beneath the roof. ^ , 

The old Amphitheater stood until 1897. In 
that year the building of the Massey Memorial 
Organ made some changes necessary. The old 
building was taken down, and a new Amphi- 
theater arose in its place, having above it a trussed 
roof and supported from the sides, and no pillars 
obstructing the view. It has been said that the 
Chautauqua Amphitheater will seat ten thousand 
people, but a careful computation shows that fifty- 
five hundred, or at the utmost fifty-six hundred 



THE SCHOOL OF LANGUAGES 165 

are its limit upon the benches, without chairs in 
the aisles. But another thousand, or even fifteen 
hundred may sometimes be seen standing back of 
its seats at a popular lecture or concert. 

In the season of 1879, one of the leading speakers 
was an Englishman, the Rev. W. O. Simpson of 
the Wesleyan Church, who had been for some 
years a missionary in India. His graphic pictures 
of village life in that land were a revelation, for 
Kipling and his followers had not yet thrown the 
light of their genius upon the great peninsula and 
its people. Mr. Simpson was over six feet in 
height and large in every way, in voice as well as 
in girth. We all hoped to meet him yet many 
years at Chautauqua, for he seemed to be abound- 
ing in health. But a few months later we learned 
of his sudden death. In those years it was the 
Chautauqua custom to hold a memorial service for 
men prominent in the class-room or on the plat- 
form, and it fell to my lot to speak in 1880 upon 
the Rev. W. O. Simpson. I sent to England for 
printed matter relating to his life, and among the 
appreciative articles found one story which is 
worthy of remembrance. 

When Mr. Simpson was a student of theology 
at the Wesleyan Theological School, he chanced 
one day to read the announcement of a lecture 



i66 THE STORY OF CHAUTAUQUA 

upon the Bible, and went to hear it. To his amaze- 
ment he found himself at an infidel meeting, listen- 
ing to a virulent attack upon the Holy Scriptures. 
In the middle of his lecture, the speaker said: 

There are undoubtedly good things in the Bible, 
but anyone who is familiar with the ancient writers of 
Greece, and especially those of India, knows well, if 
he would tell the truth, that all the good things in the 
Bible were stolen from earlier scholars and sages, and 
were originally better spoken or written than by the 
so-called authors of the Bible, who took them at 
second-hand. If anybody here is prepared to deny 
that statement, let him stand up and say so ! 

Instantly this young student of theology stood 
up, six feet high, and at that time in his life very 
slim in his figure. That he might be seen readily 
he stood on the seat, and a fellow-student said that 
he loomed up apparently ten feet high. He held 
a little red-covered book, and stretching his long 
arm toward the speaker, said something like this : 

I hold in my hand a copy of the New Testament, 
and I wish to say that in this little book, only a quarter 
of the Bible, you will find a clearer light on man's 
nature, and character, and destiny than may be read 
in all the ancient books of the world taken together. 

He paused, seized the little volume with both 
hands, tore it in two parts, flung one part down to 
the floor, and still holding the rest of it, went on : 



THE SCHOOL OF LANGUAGES 167 

I have thrown aside one-half of this book, but this 
half contains the four gospels of our Lord, which will 
tell more what man may be here and will be hereafter 
than can be found in all the books of ancient Rome, 
or Greece, or Chaldea, or India, or China. 

Then he tore out three leaves from the fragment, 
flung all the rest on the floor, and fluttering the 
torn pages, said : 

These six pages contain Christ's Sermon on the 
Mount, setting forth a higher standard of righteous- 
ness, a clearer view of God, and a better knowledge of 
man's nature than all the other ancient books on earth. 
That is my answer to the speaker ! 

And leaving the torn book on the floor, he 
walked out of the room. 

Other speakers in the new Amphitheater in the 
summer of 1879 were Dr. Henry W. Warren, in the 
next year a Bishop ; Frank Beard, with his carica- 
tures and stories; Dr. C. H. Fowler, Dr. Joseph 
Cook, Bishop Foster, Dr. Alexander A. Hodge, 
the Princeton theologian, Dr. John Lord, the his- 
torian, Hon. J. W. Wendling of Kentucky, who 
brought brilliant oratory to the service of Chris- 
tianity in an eloquent lecture on *'The Man of 
Galilee"; Prof. J. W. Churchill, one of the finest 
readers of his time; Dr. George Dana Boardman 
of Philadelphia; and Dr. Vincent himself, always 



i68 THE STORY OF CHAUTAUQUA 

greeted by the largest audiences. Let us say, once 
for all, that Dr. Buckley was a perennial visitor, 
with new lectures every year, and his ever-popular 
answers to the question-drawer. If there was a 
problem which he could not solve, he could always 
turn the tables on the questioner with a story 
or a retort. 

One event of 1879 not to be passed over was the 
dedication of the Hall of Philosophy in St. Paul's 
Grove. Dr. Vincent suggested the plan of the 
building, to be set apart for the uses of the C. L. 
S. C. and the interests of general culture. As 
everybody who has been to Chautauqua knows, it 
was in the form of a Greek temple, an open build- 
ing surrounded by plain columns, which may have 
resembled marble, but were made of wood. The 
dedication was held on August 5th, and addresses 
were given by Dr. Vincent, Rev. W. O. Simpson, 
and Dr. EUinwood. There are thousands of 
Chautauquans, some of them dwelling in distant 
lands, who are ready to declare that in all the week, 
the most precious hour was that of the five o'clock 
Vesper Service on Sunday afternoon, when the 
long rays of the setting sun fell upon the assem- 
blage, as they sang "Day is dying in the West," 
and they united in that prayer of Thomas k 
Kempis, beginning, "In all things, O my soul, thou 



THE SCHOOL OF LANGUAGES 169 

shalt rest in the Lord always, for He is the ever- 
lasting rest of the saints." 

In the fall and winter of 189 1 this writer was the 
traveling companion of Bishop Vincent in Europe. 
Every Sunday afternoon at five o'clock, whether 
on the Atlantic, or in London, Lucerne, Florence, 
or Naples, we brought out our copies of the vesper 
service and read it together, feeling that in spirit 
we were within 'the columns of that Hall in the 
Grove. 

This year, 1879, the second year of the C. L. S. 
C, brought to its Founder a problem which threat- 
ened the ruin of the circle, but in its happy solu- 
tion proved to be a powerful element in its success. 
This was to be the Roman Year of the course, and 
in the original conception the Pioneer Class of 1882 
would take up Roman history, while the new class 
of 1883 would begin as its predecessor had begun, 
with English history. If this plan had been carried 
out, as announced in the early circulars for that 
year's study, then in every church and community 
two classes must be organized and conducted 
with different readings. Another year would re- 
quire three circles, and still another four circles. 
Could members and leaders be found for four 
separate clubs in one locality? Would not the 
circle break up into fragments from the weight 



I70 THE STORY OF CHAUTAUQUA 

of the machinery needed to keep the wheel in 
motion? Just then came the suggestion — made 
by President Lewis Miller, as Dr. Vincent told 
me at the time — that both the classes should 
read the books together, making the same course 
the second year for the Pioneers, and the first 
year's reading of "the Vincents,*' as the members 
of '83 named themselves. In a college there is a 
progression of studies, for one science must follow 
another; but in the Chautauqua Circle, it makes 
no difference whether the reader begins with the 
history of Greece or of Rome, or of England, or of 
America. New members can enter any year and 
read with those already reading. The Circle is a 
railroad train on a track with four stations. You 
can board the train in England, America, or Greece 
or Rome, and when you have gone the round and 
reached the station where you began, you have 
completed the course and receive your certificate 
ornamented with all the seals that you have won 
by additional reading and study. The present 
four-year cycle of the C. L. S. C. consists of 
the English, American, Classical, and Modern 
European years. 

One more event of 1879 must not be forgotten. 
The Park of Palestine had fallen into decrepitude. 
Some of its mountains had sunk down, and the 




gsss==^- 



Baptist Headquarters and Mission House 




Presbyterian Headquarters and Mission House 



THE SCHOOL OF LANGUAGES 171 

course of the River Jordan had become clogged up, 
so there was danger of a lake at a spot where none 
was on the map, and of a dry bed below, long after 
the Israelites had finished their crossing. More- 
over, some mischievous boys had mixed up its 
geography by moving a few of the cities. Bethel 
was found where Kirjath-jearim should be; Joppa 
had been swept by the ice in the breaking up of 
winter into the Mediterranean Sea, and Megiddo 
was missing. The task of reconstructing the Park 
was given to Dr. W. H. Perrine of Michigan, a 
scholar and an artist, who had traveled in the Holy 
Land, had painted a panorama of it, and had con- 
structed a model in plaster. He rebuilt the Park 
from more permanent materials, and succeeded in 
making it more accurate in some details, as well as 
more presentable in appearance. But man-made 
mountains are by no means "the ever-lasting hills," 
and the Park of Palestine needs to be made over 
at least once in ten years if it is to be kept worthy 
of Chautauqua. 



CHAPTER XI 

HOTELS, HEADQUARTERS, AND HAND-SHAKING 

(1880) 

The seventh session of the Assembly opened in 
1880 with another addition to the Chautauqua 
territory. Fifty acres along the Lake shore had 
been acquired, and the Assembly-ground was now 
three times as large as that of the old Fair Point 
Camp Meeting. 

This season saw also the foundation laid for a 

large hotel. It is worthy of record that the Hotel 

Athenaeum was built not by the Assembly Board, 

but by a stock company of people friendly to the 

movement and willing to risk considerable capital 

in its establishment. More than one promising 

Assembly had already been wrecked and many 

more were destined to bankruptcy by building 

large hotels before they were assured of guests 

to fill them. It must be kept in mind that 

everywhere the Chautauqua constituency was not, 

and is not now, the wealthy class who frequent 

summer hotels and are willing to pay high prices for 

172 



HOTELS AND HEADQUARTERS 173 

their entertainment. A Chautauqua Assembly, 
whether in the east or the west, is mainly composed 
of people possessing only moderate means, but 
eager for intellectual culture. Whenever a Chau- 
tauqua has been established in connection with 
the conventional summer hotel, either it has be- 
come bankrupt from lack of patronage, or the 
hotel has swallowed up the Assembly. The Hotel 
Athenaeum at Chautauqua was not the property 
of the Assembly, and might have failed — as many, 
perhaps most, of the summer hotels at watering- 
places have failed once or more than once in their 
history — without endangering the Assembly it- 
self. The men who built the Athen^um, led by 
Lewis Miller and his business partners, risked their 
money, and might have lost it, for there were 
seasons when it paid no dividends to the stock- 
holders, and other seasons when the profits were 
small. Yet this hotel drew by degrees an increas- 
ing number of visitors who were able and willing 
to enjoy its advantages over those of the earlier 
cottage boarding houses, and it led to better ac- 
commodations and a more liberal table in the cot- 
tages, until now the Hotel Athenaeum is only one 
of a number of really good houses of entertainment 
at Chautauqua. It is given prominence in our 
story because it was first in its field. By the way, 



174 THE STORY OF CHAUTAUQUA 

the name "Hotel Athenaeum" was given by Dr. 
Vincent, who liked to impart a classical tone to 
buildings in an educational institution. 

The building was begun in 1880 and opened in 
the following year, though even then not fully 
completed. It occupied the site of a three-story 
edifice bearing the high-sounding name "Palace 
Hotel," a structure of tent-cloth over a wooden 
frame, divided by muslin partitions, and three 
stories in height. When rooms for the ever-in- 
creasing multitudes at Chautauqua were few, the 
Palace Hotel was a blessing to many visitors. 
Some distinguished men slept in those tented 
rooms, and inasmuch as a sheet partition is not 
entirely sound-proof, their snores at night could 
be heard almost as far as their speeches by day. 
Some there were in the early eighties who shook 
their heads as the walls of the new hotel rose, and 
dreaded the tide of worldliness which would follow; 
but the Hotel Athenaeum has become a genuine 
helper to the Chautauqua spirit, for its great parlor 
has opened its doors to many receptions, and the 
witty after-dinner speeches at banquets in its 
dining-hall would fill more than one volume. 

Another building which deserves mention is the 
Congregational House, opened in 1880; the first 
church headquarters established at Chautauqua. 



HOTELS AND HEADQUARTERS 175 

We have seen how the denominations were recog- 
nized from the earliest years, and meeting places 
provided for their prayer meetings and confer- 
ences. The need was felt by a number of the 
larger churches of a (place where their members 
could find a welcome on arrival, could form an 
acquaintance with fdjow-members, could meet 
each other in social gatherings and prayer meet- 
ings, and could promote the fraternal spirit. ( 
The example of the Congregationalists was soon 
followed. The Presbyterian headquarters, aided 
by a liberal donation of Mr. Elliott F. Shepard of 
New York, was the earliest brick building on the 
ground, solid and substantial, befitting the church 
which it represented. After a few years its size 
was doubled to make a Mission House, where 
missionaries of that church, home and foreign, 
could enjoy a vacation at Chautauqua. The 
Methodist House is one of the largest, for its chapel 
is the home of the Community Church at Chau- 
tauqua through the entire year, the church 
home of the resident population of every de- 
nomination. The Disciples of Christ, or Chris- 
tian Church, purchased a large boarding-house, 
built before it a pillared porch, giving it a noble 
frontage and furnishing rooms for guests in the 
upper stories. The United Presbyterians built a 



176 THE STORY OF CHAUTAUQUA 

chapel, serving also as a social room. The Protestant 
Episcopalians also erected a chapel consecrated to 
worship, but later established also a Church Home. 
The Unitarians purchased and improved a property 
fronting on St. Paul's Grove. The Baptists built 
a large headquarters on Clark Avenue, the street 
extending from the Amphitheater to the Hall of 
Philosophy, and the Lutherans obtained a large 
building near it. In all these Denominational 
Houses there is an absence of clannish feeling. No 
church uses its headquarters as a propaganda of its 
peculiar views ; and in the receptions fellow Chris- 
tians of every branch are always welcome. When 
some eminent man comes to Chautauqua, his 
church holds a reception in his honor, and every- 
body who would like to take his hand flocks to the 
meeting at his church headquarters. Speaking of 
receptions, I must tell of one wherein I was sup- 
posed to take a leading part, but found myself left 
in the rear. Dr. Vincent announced that at four 
o'clock, in the Hall of Philosophy, a reception 
would be given to Dr. Edward Everett Hale. He 
said to me : 

Now, Dr. Hurlbut, I place this reception in your 
hands to manage. Dr. Hale comes from Boston and 
is accustomed to the formalities of the best society. 
Be sure to have this reception held in the proper man- 



HOTELS AND HEADQUARTERS 177 

ner. Let the Doctor stand in front of the platform, 
have ushers ready to introduce the people, and let 
there be no indiscriminate handshaking. 

I promised to see that everything should be done 
decently and in order, and a few minutes before 
the hour appointed, walked over to the Hall. I 
was amazed to see a crowd of people, all pressing 
toward the center, where the tall form of Dr. Hale 
loomed above the throng, shaking hands ap- 
parently in every direction. I rushed upon the 
scene and vainly endeavored to bring about some 
semblance of order. The reception was a tumultu- 
ous, almost a rough-and-tumble, affair, everybody 
reaching out for the guest in his own way. It came 
about in this manner, as I learned. 

Everybody at Chautauqua knows that the bell 
invariably rings five minutes before the hour, 
giving notice that the exercises may begin 
promptly on the stroke of the clock. But Dr. 
Hale did not know this, and when the five-minute 
bell rang, he rose and said : 

*'The time for the meeting has come, but nobody 
seems to be in charge. Let us begin the reception 
ourselves without waiting." 

He stood up, and began shaking hands right and 
left, without waiting for introduction, and when 
the four o'clock bell sounded, the reception was in 

xa 



178 THE STORY OF CHAUTAUQUA 

full sweep, everybody crowding around at once and 
grasping his hand. Before the first throng had 
satisfied its desires, another stream poured in and 
the general tumult continued until the five o'clock 
hour compelled an adjournment, the Hall being 
required for another meeting. 

At the close. Dr. Hale remarked to me, "I es- 
pecially like the informality of such gatherings 
here at Chautauqua. This has been one of the 
most satisfactory receptions that I have ever 
attended!'* 

Chautauqua was already coming to the front as 
a convention-city. Its central location between 
New York and Chicago, with ready transportation 
north and south, its Amphitheater for great meet- 
ings, with numerous halls and tents for smaller 
gatherings and committees, the constant improve- 
ment in its lodging and commissary departments, 
its attractive program of lectures and entertain- 
ments, and not the least, its romantic out-of- 
door life, began to draw to the ground different 
organizations. The Woman's Christian Temper- 
ance Union, led by Frances E. Willard, returned 
to its birthplace for its sixth annual convention, 
and the National Educational Association brought 
members from every State, presided over by Dr. 
J. Ormond Wilson. This Association embraced 



HOTELS AND HEADQUARTERS 179 

educators of widely diverging views, and some en- 
tertaining scraps occurred in its discussions. For 
example, the kindergarten instruction at Chautau- 
qua was under the direction of Madame Kraus- 
Boelte, and her husband, a learned but rather 
obstinate German, Professor Kraus. There was 
an Americanized kindergarten, whose representa- 
tive came, hired a cottage, and hung out her sign, 
but much to her displeasure was not allowed to 
conduct classes. It would never answer to let 
anybody hold classes unauthorized by the man- 
agement, for who could tell what educational 
heresies might enter through the gate? But this 
aggressive lady paid her fee, joined the N. E. A., 
and in the kindergarten section proceeded to ex- 
ploit her "improvements" upon the Froebel sys- 
tem. This aroused the ire of Professor Kraus, 
and in vigorous language he interrupted her 
address, declaring, at first in English, then half in 
German as his anger rose: 

"Dat iss not kindergarten! Dere is but one 
kindergarten! You can call dat whatever you 
please, but not kindergarten! You can call it 
joss-house, if you choose, but you must not say dat 
mix-up is a kindergarten!" 

The audience enjoyed the discussion all the more 
because of this scramble between opposing schools. 



i8o THE STORY OF CHAUTAUQUA 

There was another, and more dignified, contro- 
versy on the Chautauqua platform in 1880. On 
its program was the honored name of Washing- 
ton Gladden, of Columbus, Ohio, to speak upon 
the Standard Oil Company and its misdeeds. A 
friend of Dr. Vincent, who was an officer of the 
Standard Oil, said that it would only be fair to hear 
the other side, and proposed Mr. George Gunton 
of New York as a speaker. So it came to pass 
that two able men spoke on opposite sides of the 
mooted question. Each gave an address and after- 
ward had an opportunity of answering the other^s 
arguments. So far as I know, this was the first 
debate on public questions at Chautauqua, and it 
was succeeded by many others. An effort is made 
to have the burning questions of the time dis- 
cussed by representative speakers. Some exceed- 
ingly radical utterances on capital and labor have 
been made on the Chautauqua platform, but it 
must not be inferred, because the audience listened 
to them respectfully, or even applauded a particu- 
larly sharp sentence, that Chautauqua was in 
accord with the speaker's sentiments. 

On the list of speakers at this season may be 
read the following, a few among many names: 
Prof. J. H. Gilmore of Rochester University gave a 
series of brilliant lectures upon English literature. 



.■:??sfS 



Methodist Headquarters 




Disciples (Christian Church) Headquarters 



HOTELS AND HEADQUARTERS i8i 

Ram Chandra Bose of India gave several lectures, 
philosophic and popular. Dr. Sheldon Jackson of 
Alaska thrilled a great audience with an appeal for 
that outlying but unknown land of ours. Schuyler 
Colfax, Vice-President of Grant's first adminis- 
tration, gave a great lecture on * 'Abraham 
Lincoln." Professor Borden P. Bowne of Boston 
University made the deep things of philosophy 
plain even to unphilosophic listeners. Other 
orators in the new Amphitheater were Dr. Robert 
R. Meredith of Boston, Dr. J. O. Means of the 
American Board of Commissioners for Foreign 
Missions, and Dr. W. W. Keen of Philadelphia. 
The Fisk Jubilee Singers made their first visit this 
year; and with the Northwestern Band and the 
Assembly Chorus, already counted by the hun- 
dreds, under Professors Sherwin and Case, made 
music one of the most popular features of the 
program. 

This year was also notable for the first appear- 
ance of the Chautauquan Magazine, containing a 
part of the required readings of the C. L. S, C. 
It was launched and made successful by the finan- 
cial, business, and editorial ability of Dr. Flood, 
who ventured his capital boldly and won deserved 
success. The ever- welcome "Pansy," Mrs. G. R. 
Alden, this season read a new story, published soon 



1 82 THE STORY OF CHAUTAUQUA 

afterward. With Mrs. Alden in those early years 
was a serious small boy, ever at his mother's side, 
rarely entering into the sports of childhood. If we 
could have looked forward a quarter-century, we 
might have seen in him the coming Professor 
Raymond M. Alden of the Leland Stanford 
faculty, one of the most eminent scholars and 
critics in the Department of English Literature, 
and an authority quoted in all lands where the 
English language is spoken or read. 

A visitor came to Chautauqua at the session of 
1880, whose presence brought the place and the 
Assembly into notice throughout the nation. 
General James A. Garfield was at that time the 
candidate of his party for President of the United 
States. He came to Chautauqua on Saturday, 
August 7th, for a week-end rest in a strenuous 
campaign, expressing a wish not to be called upon 
for any public address or reception. He wor- 
shiped with the great congregation on Sunday 
morning, his entrance with a group of his friends 
being received in respectful silence. In the after- 
noon he mentioned to Dr. Vincent that he had 
heard of Palestine Park and would like to visit 
it. As the lectures in the Park were generally 
given by me, I was detailed to walk through the 
model and point out its localities. As we went 



HOTELS AND HEADQUARTERS 183 

out of Dr. Vincent's tent a small company was 
standing around, waiting for a sight of the candi- 
date. They followed us, and as we walked on 
toward the Park, people came flocking forth from 
every house and tent. By the time we reached 
the Land of Palestine, it was well-nigh covered 
with the crowds, extending from Dan to Beer- 
sheba. No former Palestine lecture of mine had 
ever drawn together such a multitude! It be- 
came impossible to find the cities covered by the 
multitudes. But I was somewhat surprised to 
perceive that the General knew where at least the 
important localities belonged even though they 
were not visible. He pointed out half a dozen of 
the cities named in the Bible, and gave their names 
without hesitation or suggestion. We desired to 
make a sort of pilgrimage through the land, but 
found an army obstructing our journey. 

On the next morning, as General Garfield was 
about to leave, Dr. Vincent asked him, not to make 
a political speech, but to give in a few words his 
impressions of Chautauqua. He consented, and 
standing upon a stump, in the presence of a hastily 
assembled gathering, gave a ten-minute address, 
of which the following is a part. 

You are struggling with one of the two great prob- 
lems of civilization. The first one is a very old 



1 84 THE STORY OF CHAUTAUQUA 

struggle: It is, how shall we get any leisure? That is 
the problem of every hammer stroke, of every blow 
that labor has struck since the foundation of the world. 
The fight for bread is the first great primal fight, and 
it is so absorbing a struggle that until one conquers it 
somewhat he can have no leisure whatever. So that 
we may divide the whole struggle of the human race 
into two chapters; first, the fight to get leisure; and 
then the second fight of civilization — what shall we 
do with our leisure when we get it? And I take it 
that Chautuaqua has assailed the second problem. 
Now, leisure is a dreadfully bad thing unless it is well 
used. A man with a fortune ready made and with 
leisure on his hands, is likely to get sick of the world, 
sick of himself, tired of life, and become a useless, 
wasted man. What shall you do with your leisure? 
I understand Chautauqua is trying to answer that 
question and to open out fields of thought, to open out 
energies, a largeness of mind, a culture in the better 
senses, with the varnish scratched off. We are getting 
over the process of painting our native woods and 
varnishing them. We are getting down to the real 
grain, and finding whatever is best in it and truest in 
it. And if Chautuaqua is helping garnish our people 
with the native stuff that is in them, rather than with 
the paint and varnish and gew-gaws of culture, they 
are doing well. 

As we looked upon that stately figure, the form 
of one born to command, and listened to that mel- 
low, ringing voice, no one dreamed that within a 
year that frame would be laid low, that voice 



HOTELS AND HEADQUARTERS 185 

hushed, and that life fraught with such promise 
ended by an assassin's bullet! 

The Assembly of 1880 came to its close on 
August 19th, after a session of thirty-eight days. 
Although the C. L. S. C. had come to the fore- 
ground and held the center of the stage, the normal 
work and Bible study had not been neglected. 
The teacher-training classes were now under the 
charge of Dr. Richard S. Holmes and Rev. J. L. 
Hurlbut. The Children's Class was maintained 
with a daily attendance approaching three hun- 
dred, the lessons taught by Rev. B. T. Vincent and 
pictures drawn by Frank Beard ; also Mr. Vincent 
conducted an Intermediate Class in Bible Study. 
In all these classes for older and younger stu- 
dents, more than two hundred and fifty passed the 
examination and were enrolled as graduates. 

On the last evening of the Assembly, after the 
closing exercises, there was seen a weird, ghostly 
procession, in white raiment, emerging from the 
Ark and parading solemnly through the grounds, 
pausing before the Miller Cottage and the Vincent 
Tent for a mournful, melancholy musical strain. 
This was the "ghost walk" of the guests in the 
Ark. Some eminent Doctors of Divinity and 
Ph.D.*s. were in that sheeted procession, led by 
Professors Sherwin and Case, engineered, as such 



i86 THE STORY OF CHAUTAUQUA 

functions were apt to be, by Frank and Helen 
Beard. The ghost walk grew into an annual 
march, until it was succeeded by a more elaborate 
performance, of which the story will be told later. 



CHAPTER XII 

DEMOCRACY AND ARISTOCRACY AT CHAUTAUQUA 

(1881) 

The eighth session opened on Thursday, July 
7th, and continued forty-seven days to August 
22d. A glance over the program shows that among 
the lecturers of that year was Signor Alessandro 
Gavazzi, the foimder of the Free Italian Church, 
whose lectures, spiced with his quaint accent, and 
emphasized by expressive shoulders, head, glance 
of eye, held the interest of his auditors from the 
opening sentence to the end. No verbal report, 
however accurate, can portray the charm of 
this wonderful Italian. Professor W. D. McClin- 
tock of the University of Chicago, gave a 
course on literature, analytic, critical, and sug- 
gestive. Dr. William Hayes Ward, Dr. Daniel 
A. Goodsell, afterward a Methodist Bishop, Pro- 
fessor Charles F. Richardson, Dr. Edward Everett 
Hale, Dr. A. E. Dunning, Editor of The Congrega- 
tionalist; General O. O. Howard, who told war 
stories in a simple, charming manner; Dr. Philip 

187 



i88 THE STORY OF CHAUTAUQUA 

Schaff, one of the most learned yet most simple- 
hearted scholars of the age ; Dr. A. A. Willetts, with 
his many times repeated, yet always welcome lec- 
ture on *' Sunshine," were among the men whose 
voices filled the Amphitheater during the season. 
The Fisk Jubilee Singers were with us again and 
Signor Giuseppe Vitale made the birds sing 
through his wonderful violin. 

The success of the C. L. S. C, which was widen- 
ing its area every month, inspired Dr. Vincent to 
look for new fields to conquer. He established 
this year the C. Y. F. R. U., initials standing for 
The Chautauqua Young Folks Reading Union, 
which proposed to do for the boys and girls what 
the Reading Circle was accomplishing for men and 
women. But it was found after a few years of 
trial that the school-age seeks its own reading and 
is not responsive to direction in literature on a 
vast scale, for the C. Y. F. R. U. was not successful 
in winning the young readers. 

Another scheme launched this year met with the 
same fate ; — The Chautauqua School of Theology. 
It was thought that many ministers who had not 
received a theological education would avail them- 
selves of an opportunity to obtain it while in the 
pastorate. This was to be not a course of reading, 
but of close study, under qualified instruction in 



DEMOCRACY AND ARISTOCRACY 189 

each department, with examinations, a diploma, 
and a degree. But it required more thorough 
study and much larger fees than a mere course of 
reading, and those who needed it most were often 
the poorest paid in their profession. It did not 
receive the support needful for its success, it had 
no endowment, and after an experiment extending 
through a number of years, it was reluctantly 
abandoned. Some of us have believed that if the 
Chautauqua Correspondence School of Theology 
could have found friends to give it even a moderate 
endowment, it might have supplied an education 
needed by a multitude of ministers. 

The Hotel Athenaeum was opened in 1881 and 
speedily filled with guests. It aided in bringing 
to Chautauqua a new constituency and also 
spurred the cottage boarding-houses to improve 
their accommodations and their fare. From the 
beginning the waiters and other helpers at the 
Hotel, and also in the cottages, have been mostly 
young people seeking to obtain higher education, 
and paying their way at Chautauqua by service. 
I remember one morning finding a Hebrew book 
on my breakfast table. One meets unaccustomed 
things at Chautauqua, but I was quite sure the 
menu was not in that language. I called the atten- 
tion of the young man who brought in the break- 



190 THE STORY OF CHAUTAUQUA 

fast to the book. He told me that he was study- 
ing Hebrew with Dr. Harper, and from time to 
time we had some conversation concerning his 
college work. Twenty years afterward I met a 
prominent Methodist minister at a Conference, 
who said to me, '* Don't you remember me, Dr. 
Hurlbut? I used to wait on your table at Chau- 
tauqua and we talked together about Hebrew.*' 
That minister was a member of several General 
Conferences and some years ago was made one of 
the Bishops in his church. 

Mrs. Ida B. Cole, the Executive Secretary of 
the C. L. S. C, is responsible for the following: A 
woman once said, * ' Chautauqua cured me of being 
a snob, for I found that my waitress was a senior in 
a college, the chambermaid had specialized in 
Greek, the porter taught languages in a high 
school, and the bell-boy, to whom I had been 
giving nickel tips, was the son of a wealthy fam- 
ily in my own State who wanted a job to prove his 
prowess." 

There are a few, however, who do not take 
kindly to the democratic life of Chautauqua. I 
was seated at one of the hotel tables with a well- 
known clergyman from England, whose sermons 
of a highly spiritual type are widely read in 
America; and I remarked: 






Unitarian Headquarters 




Episcopal Chapel 



DEMOCRACY AND ARISTOCRACY 191 

"Perhaps it may interest you to know that all 
the waiters in this hotel are college-students." 

**What do you mean?" he said, "surely no col- 
lege student would demean himself by such a 
servile occupation! But it may be a lark, just 
for fun." 

"No," I answered, "they are men who are 
earning money to enable them to go on with their 
college work, a common occurrence in summer 
hotels in America." 

Said this minister, "Well, I don't like it; and it 
would not be allowed in my country. No man 
after it could hold up his head in an English Uni- 
versity or College. I don't enjoy being waited 
on by a man who considers himself my social 
equal!" 

Other eminent Englishmen did not agree with 
this clergyman. When I mentioned this incident 
a year later to Principal Fairbairn of Oxford, he 
expressed his hearty sympathy with the democracy 
shown at Chautauqua, and said that whatever 
might be the ideas of class-distinction in English 
colleges, they were unknown in Scotland, where 
some of the most distinguished scholars rose from 
the humblest homes and regardless of their poverty 
were respected and honored in their colleges. 

Dr. Vincent, ever fertile in sentimental touches, 



192 THE STORY OF CHAUTAUQUA 

added two features to the usages of the C. L. S. C. 
One was the "Camp fire." In an open place a 
great bonfire was prepared ; all the members stood 
around in a circle, clasping hands; the fire was 
kindled, and while the flames soared up and lit the 
faces of the crowd, songs were simg and speeches 
were made. This service was maintained annually 
until the ground at Chautauqua became too closely 
occupied by cottages for a bonfire to be safe. It 
is noteworthy that on the day after the camp fire, 
there was always a large enrollment of members 
for the C. L. S. C. Of course, the camp fire 
was introduced at other Assemblies, by this time 
becoming numerous, and it attracted not only 
spectators, but students to the reading-course. 
At our first camp fire in the Ottawa Assembly, 
Kansas, an old farmer from the country rushed 
up to Dr. Milner, the President, and said : 

**I don't know much about this ere circle you 
were talking about, but I'm going to jine, and 
here's my fifty cents for membership and another 
for my wife." 

There were only twenty members around the 
^e that night, but on the next day, there were 
forty or more on the registry at the Chautauqua 
tent. 

The camp fire died down after a number of 



DEMOCRACY AND ARISTOCRACY 193 

years, but the Vigil, also introduced in 1881, be- 
came a permanent institution. In the days of 
chivalry, when a youth was to receive the honor of 
knighthood, he spent his last night in the chapel 
of the castle, watching beside his armor, to be worn 
for the first time on the following day. Dr. 
Vincent called upon the members of the Pioneer 
class of the C. L. S. C, destined to graduate on the 
following year, to meet him in the Hall of Philos- 
ophy late on Sunday night, after the conclusion 
of the evening service. All except members of 
the class were requested not to come. The hall 
was dimly lighted, left almost in darkness. They 
sang a few songs from memory, listened to a Psalm, 
and to an earnest, deeply religious address, were 
led in prayer, and were dismissed, to go home in 
silence through the empty avenues. After a few 
years the Vigil was changed from a Sunday even- 
ing of the year before graduation to the Sunday 
immediately preceding Recognition Day, for the 
reason that on the graduation year, the attendance 
of any class is far greater than on the year before. 
The Vigil is still one of the time-honored and highly 
appreciated services of the season. Now, how- 
ever, the Hall is no longer left in shadow, for 
around it the Athenian Watch Fires lighten up 

St. Paul's Grove with their flaring tongues. Gener- 
is 



194 THE STORY OF CHAUTAUQUA 

ally more people are standing outside the pillars 
of the Hall, watching the ceremonials, than are 
seated before the platform, for none are permitted 
to enter except members of the class about to 
graduate. 

I am not sure whether it was in this year, 1881, 
or the following that Dr. Vincent inaugurated 
the Society of Christian Ethics. This was not an 
organization with a roll of membership, dues, and 
duties, but simply a meeting on Sunday afternoon 
in the Children's Temple, at which an address on 
character was given, in the first years by Dr. 
Vincent. It was especially for young people of 
the 'teen age. No one was admitted under the 
age of twelve or over that of twenty. The young 
people were quite proud of having Dr. Vincent all 
to themselves, and strongly resented the efforts 
of their elders to obtain admittance. No person 
of adult years was allowed without a card signed 
by Dr. Vincent. These addresses by the Founder, 
if they had been taken down and preserved, would 
have formed a valuable book for young people on 
the building up of true character. They were 
continued during the years of Dr. Vincent's active 
association with Chautauqua and for some time 
afterward ; addresses being given by eminent men 
of the Chautauqua program. But very few 



DEMOCRACY AND ARISTOCRACY 195 

speakers could meet the needs of that adolescent 
age. By degrees the attendance decreased and 
after some years the meeting gave place to other 
interests. 

The regular features of the season went on as in 
other years. The schools were growing in stu- 
dents, in the number of instructors, and in the 
breadth of their courses. The Sunday School 
Normal Department was still prominent, and on 
August 17, 1 88 1, one hundred and ninety diplomas 
were conferred upon the adults, intermediates, and 
children who had passed the examination. 



CHAPTER XIII 

THE FIRST RECOGNITION DAY 
(1882) 

The opening service of the ninth session was 
begun, as all the opening sessions of previous years, 
in the out-of-doors Auditorium in front of the 
Miller Cottage. But a sudden dash of rain came 
down and a hasty adjournment was made to the 
new Amphitheater. From 1882 onward, *'01d 
First Night ' ' has been observed in that building. A 
few lectures during the season of '82 were given in 
the old Auditorium, but at the close of the season 
the seats were removed, save a few left here and 
there under the trees for social enjoyment; and 
the Auditorium was henceforth known as Miller 
Park. 

The crowning event of the 1882 season was the 
graduation of the first class in the Chautauqua 
Literary and Scientific Circle. Taking into ac- 
count the fact that it was the first class, for which 
no advertising had been given and no announce- 
ment made in advance, the number graduated at 
the end of the four years was remarkably large, 

196 



THE FIRST RECOGNITION DAY 197 

over eighteen hundred, of which eight hundred 
received their diplomas at Chautauqua and a 
thousand more at their homes, some in distant 
places. Years afterward I met a minister in a 
small town in Texas who had seen the report of 
the inauguration of the C. L. S. C, had read Dr. 
Vincent*s address on that occasion, and joined 
the Class of 1882, its only member, as far as he 
knew, in his State. One member was a teacher in 
South Africa, others were missionaries in India 
and China. Most of the regular visitors to Chau- 
tauqua in those early days were members of this 
class, so that even now, after nearly forty years, the 
Pioneer Class can always muster at its annual 
gatherings a larger number of its members than 
almost any other of the classes. For many years 
Mrs. B. T. Vincent was the President of the Class, 
and strongly interested in its social and religious 
life. She instituted at Chautauqua the '* Quiet 
Hour,'* held every Saturday evening during the 
Assembly season, at Pioneer Hall, by this class, 
a meeting for conversation on subjects of culture 
and the Christian life. It is a touching sight to 
look upon that group of old men and women, at 
their annual farewell meeting, on the evening be- 
fore the Recognition Day, standing in a circle with 
joined hands, singing together their class song 



198 THE STORY OF CHAUTAUQUA 

written for them by Mary A. Lathbury, and then 
sounding forth their class yell : 

Hear! Hear! Pioneers! 

Height to height, fight for right, 
Pioneers ! 
Who are you ? Who are you ? 
We are the class of eighty-two! 
Pioneers — Ah ! 

No college class was ever graduated with half 
the state and splendor of ceremony that was ob- 
served on that first Recognition Day, in a ritual 
prepared by Dr. Vincent, and observed to the 
letter every year since 1882. He chose to call it 
not a Commencement, but a Recognition, the 
members of the Circle being recognized on that 
day as having completed the course and entitled 
to membership in the Society of the Hall in the 
Grove, the Alumni Association of the C. L. S. C. 

A procession was formed, its divisions meeting 
in different places. The graduating class met 
before the Golden Gate at St. Paul's Grove, a gate 
which is opened but once in the year and through 
which none may pass except those who have com- 
pleted the course of reading and study of the C. L. 
S. C. Over the gate hung a silk flag which had 
been carried by the Rev. Albert D. Vail of New 
York to many of the famous places in the world of 



THE FIRST RECOGNITION DAY 199 

literature, art, and religion. It had been waved 
from the summit of the Great Pyramid, of Mount 
Sinai in the Desert, and Mount Tabor in the Holy 
Land. It had been laid in the Manger at Bethle- 
hem, and in the traditional tomb of Jesus in Holy 
Sepulcher Church. It had fluttered upon the Sea 
of Galilee, upon Mount Lebanon, in the house 
where Paul was converted at Damascus, and under 
the dome of St. Sophia in Constantinople. It had 
been at the Acropolis and Mars' Hill in Athens, to 
Westminster Abbey, and to Shakespeare's tomb 
at Stratford, to the graves of Walter Scott and 
Robert Burns. Upon its stripes were inscribed 
the names of forty-eight places to which that flag 
had been carried. The class stood before the 
Golden Gate, still kept closed until the moment 
should come for it to be opened, and in two sections 
the members read a responsive service from the 
Bible, having wisdom and especially the highest 
wisdom of all, the knowledge of God, as its subject. 
At the same time one section of the parade was 
meeting in Miller Park, in front of the Lewis Miller 
Cottage. Another was at the tent where lived 
Dr. Vincent, and still another division, the most 
interesting of all, on the hill, in front of the Chil- 
dren's Temple. This was an array of fifty Httle 
girls in white dresses, with wreaths in their hair 



200 THE STORY OF CHAUTAUQUA 

and baskets of flowers in their hands. At the 
signal, the procession moved from its different 
stations, and marched past the Vincent Tent, led 
by the band and the flower girls, and including 
every department of Chautauqua, officials, trus- 
tees, schools, and Sunday School Normal Class. 
In the later years each class of graduates marched, 
led by its banner, the Class of 1882, the Pioneers, 
bearing in front their symbol, the hatchet. Before 
all was the great banner of the C. L. S. C. presented 
to the Circle by Miss Jennie Miller, Lewis Miller's 
eldest daughter, bearing upon one side a painting 
of the Hall of Philosophy and the three mottoes of 
the Circle; on the other a silk handkerchief which 
had accompanied the flag on its journey to the 
sacred places. The pole holding up the banner was 
surmounted by a fragment of Plymouth Rock. 

The march was to the Hall of Philosophy, where 
the orator, officers, and guests occupied the plat- 
form, the little flower girls were grouped on op- 
posite sides of the path from the Golden Gate up 
to the Hall; the graduating class still standing 
outside the entrance protected by the Guard of 
the Gate. A messenger came from the Gate to 
announce that the class was now prepared to enter, 
having fulfilled all of the conditions, and the order 
was given, "Let the Golden Gate now be opened." 




Lutheran Headquarters 




United Presbyterian Chapel 



THE FIRST RECOGNITION DAY 201 

The portals were swung apart, and the class en- 
tered, passing under the historic flag and succes- 
sively under four arches dedicated respectively to 
Faith, Science, Literature, and Art, while the lit- 
tle girls strewed flowers in their path. As they 
marched up the hill they were greeted by Miss 
Lathbury's song: 

THE SONG OF TO-DAY 

Sing paeans over the Past ! 

We bury the dead years tenderly, 

To find them again in eternity, 
Safe in its circle vast. 
Sing paeans over the Past! 

Farewell, farewell to the Old! 
Beneath the arches, and one by one, 
From sun to shade, and from shade to sun, 

We pass, and the years are told. 

Farewell, farewell to the Old! 

Arise and possess the land ! 

Not one shall fail in the march of life, 
Not one shall fail in the hour of strife. 

Who trusts in the Lord's right hand. 

Arise and possess the land ! 

And hail, all hail to the New ! 
The future lies like a world new-born. 
All steeped in sunshine and dews of morn, 

And arched with a cloudless blue 

All hail, all hail to the New ! 



202 THE STORY OF CHAUTAUQUA 

All things, all things are yours ! 

The spoil of nations, the arts sublime 
That arch the ages from oldest time, 

The word that for aye endures — 

All things, all things are yours! 

The Lord shall sever the sea, 

And open a way in the wilderness 
To faith that follows, to feet that pass 

Forth into the great to be 

The Lord shall sever the sea ! 

The inspiring music of this inspiring hymn was 
composed, like most of the best Chautauqua songs, 
by Prof. William F. Sherwin. The class entered, 
and while taking their seats were welcomed in the 
strains of another melody : 

A song is thrilling through the trees, 

And vibrant through the air. 
Ten thousand hearts turn hitherward, 

And greet us from afar. 
And through the happy tide of song 

That blends our hearts in one, 
The voices of the absent flow 

In tender undertone. 

Chorus 

Then bear along, O wings of song, 

Our happy greeting glee. 
From center to the golden verge, 

Chautauqua to the sea. 



THE FIRST RECOGNITION DAY 203 

Fair Wisdom builds her temple here, 

Her seven-pillared dome; 
Toward all lands she spreads her hands, 

And greets her children home; 
Not all may gather at her shrine 

To sing of victories won; 
Their names are graven on her walls — 

God bless them every one ! Chorus, 

O happy circle, ever wide 

And wider be thy sweep, 
Till peace and knowledge fill the earth 

As waters fill the deep ; 
Till hearts and homes are touched to life. 

And happier heights are won; 
Till that fair day, clasp hands, and say 

God bless us, every one ! Chorus. 

Another responsive service followed, read in 
turn by the Superintendent and the class, and then 
Dr. Vincent gave the formal Recognition in words 
used at every similar service since that day : 

Fellow-Students of the Chautauqua Literary and Scien- 
tific Circle. 

Dearly Beloved: 

You have finished the appointed and accepted course 
of reading; you have been admitted to this sacred 
Grove; you have passed the arches dedicated to Faith, 
Science, Literaiture, and Art; you have entered in due 
form this Hall, the center of the Chautauqua Literary 
and Scientific Circle. And now as Superintendent of 



204 THE STORY OF CHAUTAUQUA 

Instruction,' with these my associates, the counsellors 
of our Fraternity, I greet you; and hereby announce 
that you, and your brethren and sisters absent from 
us to-day, who have completed with you the pre- 
scribed course of reading, are accepted and approved 
graduates of the Chautauqua Literary and Scientific 
Circle, and that you are entitled to membership in the 
Society of the Hall in the Grove. *'The Lord bless 
thee and keep thee; the Lord make his face shine upon 
thee, and be gracious unto thee; the Lord lift up his 
countenance upon thee and give thee peace." 

After another song, the Marshal of the proces- 
sion took charge, and the order of march was re- 
newed, the newly graduated class in the rear, 
followed by the Superintendent, Counsellors, and 
officers. The company marched to the Amphi- 
theater, on the way the procession dividing and 
forming on both sides of the street, while the 
officers and the graduating class passed through 
the open files, thus bringing the graduating class 
at the head of the line into the Amphitheater. 
Here more songs were sung and other responsive 
readings were rendered before an audience that 
thronged the building. The oration on the first 
graduation service was given by Dr. Henry W. 

^ After Dr. Vincent's title was changed to "Chancellor of the 
Chautauqua University" that form was used; and in his absence 
the President said instead "as representing the Chancellor of the 
Chautauqua University." 



THE FIRST RECOGNITION DAY 205 

Warren, who had been elevated to the episcopate 
two years before. After the oration a recess was 
taken, and in the afternoon the concluding service 
was held and the diplomas were conferred upon 
the eight hundred graduates present by the hand 
of Dr. Vincent. 

In most college commencements that I have at- 
tended, the President takes the diplomas at ran- 
dom from a table and hands them to the class as 
they come, not giving to each graduate his own 
diploma, and afterward there is a general looking 
up one another and sorting out the diplomas until 
at last each one obtains his own. But Miss 
Kimball, the Secretary, devised a plan by which 
all the diplomas were numbered and each gradu- 
ate was furnished with a card showing his number. 
These numbers were called out ten at a time, and 
each graduate was able to receive his own (mostly 
her own) diploma, while the audience heard the 
name upon it and the number of seals it bore for 
special reading and study. 

It should be mentioned that some members of 
the class arrived on the ground too late to pass 
with their classmates through the Golden Gate and 
under the arches. For their benefit the Gate was 
opened a second time before the afternoon meet- 
ing, and a special Recognition service was held. 



2o6 THE STORY OF CHAUTAUQUA 

so that they might enjoy all the privileges of the 
class. This is another custom continued every 
year, for always it is needed. 

After a year or two it entered the facetious 
minds of Mr. and Mrs. Beard to originate a comic 
travesty on the Recognition service, which was 
presented on the evening after the formal exercises, 
when everybody was weary and was ready to de- 
scend from the serious heights. This grew into 
quite an institution and was continued for a num- 
ber of years — a sort of mock-commencement, 
making fun of the prominent figures and features 
of the day. Almost as large an audience was wont 
to assemble for this evening of mirth and jollity, 
as was seen at the stately service of the morning. 
This in turn had its day and finally grew into the 
Chautauqua Circus, an amateur performance 
which is still continued every year under one name 
or another. 

We have given much space to the story of the 
first Recognition Day, as a sample of the similar 
services held every year afterward, growing with 
the growth of the C. L. S. C. But there were 
other events of '82 scarcely less noteworthy. On 
that year a great organ was installed in the Amphi- 
theater, and its effect was soon seen in the enlarge- 
ment of the choir and the improvement in the 



THE FIRST RECOGNITION DAY 207 

music. We can mention only in the briefest man- 
ner some of the speakers on the platform for 
that year: such as Dr. W. T. Harris of Concord, 
Mass., afterward U. S. Commissioner of Educa- 
tion; Professor William H. Niles of Boston; Mr. 
Wallace Bruce; Dr. T. DeWitt Talmage; Dr. 
Wm. M. Blackburn of Cincinnati, the church 
historian; Dr. A. D. Vail of New York, who told 
in an interesting manner the story of the banner 
and the flag ; Dr. Mark Hopkins, the great college 
President; Bishop R. S. Foster; Anthony Com- 
stock and John B. Gough, with others equally dis- 
tinguished whose names we must omit. One new 
name appeared upon the program of this season 
which will be read often in the coming years, that 
of Mr. Leon H. Vincent, the son of Rev. B. T. 
Vincent. He gave a course of lectures on English 
literature, mingling biographical, social, and critical 
views of the great writers, attracting large audi- 
ences. We shall find him among the leading lights 
of Chautauqua in the successive chapters of our 
story. 

An institution which began that year and has 
been perpetuated must not be omitted — the De- 
votional Conference. Both of the Founders of 
Chautauqua were strong in their purpose to hold 
the Christian religion ever in the forefront at the 



208 THE STORY OF CHAUTAUQUA 

Assembly. Various plans were tried during the 
eariy years, but none seemed to reach the con- 
stituency of Chautauqua until Dr. Benjamin M. 
Adams, at Dr. Vincent's request, began holding a 
daily service of an hour. This attracted a large 
attendance and was continued for a number of 
years, as long as Dr. Adams could conduct it. 
Afterward an arrangement was made which has 
become permanent. Every season a series of 
eminent clergymen are engaged, each to serve for 
one week as chaplain. He preaches the Sunday 
morning sermon in the Amphitheater, and on the 
following five days at ten o'clock conducts the 
Devotional Hour in the same place, giving a series 
of discourses, Bible readings, or addresses. The 
speaker of each week is a man of national or inter- 
national fame. The greatest preachers in the 
American pulpit have spoken at this service, and 
the audience is surpassed in numbers only by the 
most popular lectures or concerts. Many there 
are who deem this the most precious hour in the 
day. 



CHAPTER XIV 

SOME STORIES OF THE C. L. S. C. 
(1883, 1884) 

We must hasten our steps through the passing 
years at Chautauqua. Our readers may take for 
granted that the regular departments were con- 
tinued; that the Summer Schools were adding 
new courses and calling new professors; that the 
Normal Class for the training of Sunday School 
workers was still held, no longer in the section- 
tents nor in the Children's Temple, but under a 
large tent on an elevation where two years later 
was to stand the Normal Hall, built for the class, 
but after some years transferred first to the Mu- 
sical Department, later to the Summer Schools 
and partitioned into class-rooms. The Children's 
Class was still held by Dr. B. T. Vincent and 
Professor Frank Beard, for our friend with the 
crayon was now in the faculty of the School of Art 
in Syracuse University. 

In 1883 the session was forty-five days long, 

from July 14th to August 27th. A new feature of 
14 209 



210 THE STORY OF CHAUTAUQUA 

the program was an "Ideal Foreign Tour through 
Europe," with illustrated lectures on various cities 
by C. E. Bolton, and "Tourists' Conferences" 
conducted by his wife, the cultured Mrs. Sarah K. 
Bolton. Mrs. Emma P. Ewing of Chicago taught 
classes in the important art of cookery. Professor 
Charles J. Little gave a course of lectures. Hon. 
Albion W. Tourgee, residing at Mayville, who had 
achieved fame soon after the Civil War by his story, 
A Fool's Errand, gave lectures in the Amphitheater. 
Professor William C. Richards showed brilliant il- 
lustrations in physical science. Dr. P. S. Henson 
entertained while he instructed ; President Julius 
H. Seelye, Dr. W. F. MallaHen, later a Bishop, 
President Joseph Cummings of Northwestern 
University, Hon. Will Cumback of Indiana, and 
many others, gave lectures. 

A new instructor entered the School of Lan- 
guages in 1883, in the person of William Rainey 
Harper, then Professor in the Baptist School of 
Theology at Morgan Park, Illinois, afterward to 
be the first President of the University of Chicago. 
No man ever lived who could inspire a class with 
the enthusiasm that he could awaken over the 
study of Hebrew, could lead his students so far in 
that language in a six weeks' course, or could 
impart such broad and sane views of the Biblical 



SOME STORIES OF THE C. L. S. C. 211 

literature. From this year Dr. Harper was one of 
the leaders at Chautauqua, and soon was ad- 
vanced to the principalship of the Summer Schools. 
In the after years, while Dr. Harper was President 
of the University of Chicago, and holding classes 
all the year, in summer as well as winter, he 
was wont to take the train every Friday afternoon, 
in order to spend Saturday and Sunday at 
Chautauqua. Chautauquans of those days will 
also remember the recitals by Professor Robert L. 
Cumnock of Northwestern University, a reader 
who was a scholar in the best literature. 

The class of 1883, though not as large as its pre- 
decessor, the Pioneers, was graduated with the 
same ceremonies, the address on Recognition 
Day given by Dr. Lyrnan Abbott of New York, 
one of the Counsellors of the Circle. Five years 
had now passed since the inauguration of this 
movement, and from every quarter testimonials 
of its power and incidents showing its influence 
were received. Let me mention a few of these 
which came under my own notice. 

I met a lady who mentioned that she and her 
husband were reading the course together and they 
found the only available hour between six and 
seven in the morning, before breakfast. For the 
study of the course they both had risen at half past 



212 THE STORY OF CHAUTAUQUA 

five for a year or more. One result of this early 
morning reading was, she said, that at the break- 
fast table they told the children stories of history 
and science, which she thought turned their minds 
toward knowledge. Among the books was one 
on Human Physiology — a book, which, by the 
way, I did not rate very highly and objected to as 
being so elementary as to become almost juvenile; 
yet that book awakened such an interest that the 
lady began to read more widely and deeply on the 
subject, after a few months entered the Woman's 
Medical College in New York, during her course 
took several prizes, and graduated with high 
honors. It may have been that she foresaw what 
came, the failure of her husband's health, so that 
of necessity she became the bread-winner for 
her family. She was a successful physician, 
honored in the community, the Chautauqua Circle 
having opened to her wider opportunities of 
knowledge and usefulness. 

Two college professors of high standing have 
told me that they were first awakened to a desire 
and determination for higher education through 
their early readings in the C. L. S. C. 

One rather amusing yet suggestive incident came 
to my notice. Visiting a city in the Middle West, 
I met a lady who told me that she belonged to a 



SOME STORIES OP THE C. L. S. C. 213 

club of young people who met weekly in a card 
party. One member told the rest about the C. L. 
S. C. which she had joined and showed them the 
books, whereupon they all sent in their names as 
members, and the card club was transformed into 
a Chautauqua Reading Circle. 

I was seated with Dr. Edward E. Hale at a C. L. 
S. C. banquet in New England, when he pointed 
out a middle-aged gentleman at the head of one 
of the tables and told me this story about him. 

While a boy he came to his father and said, " I don't 
want to go to school any longer, I want to go to work 
and earn my own living, and there's a place in Boston 
that is open to me. " " Well, ' ' said his father, * ' perhaps 
you would better take the place, I've noticed that you 
are not paying much attention to your studies of late. 
I'm very sorry for I have set my heart on giving you 
a good education. You don't know now, but you'll 
find out later that the difference between the man who 
gives orders and the man who takes them is that 
generally one of the two men knows more than the 
other, and knowledge brings a man up in the world." 
The boy went to Boston and took a job in a big store, 
and he found that he was taking a good many orders 
from those above him and giving none to others. He 
realized that for success in life he needed an education. 
Ashamed to give up and go home, he began to attend 
an evening school which some of us had established. 
There I met him and was able to give him some en- 
couragement and some help. He became a well-read 



214 THE STORY OF CHAUTAUQUA 

and, in the end, a successful business man. As soon 
as he heard of the Chautauqua Circle, he began to 
read its books and was made President of a local circle. 
That table is filled with the members of his circle and 
he sits at the head of it. 

I wish that I could write down a story as it was 
told me by Dr. Duryea, at Chautauqua. It was of 
a man who sat at his table in the Hotel and was 
always in a hurry, never finishing his meals in his 
haste to get to lectures and classes. The Doctor 
got him to talking and he forgot to drink his coffee 
while telling his story. He said that he kept a 
country store in a village in Arkansas, where the 
young men used to come in the evenings and tell 
stories together. He felt that he was leading a 
rather narrow life and needed intelligence, but did 
not know where to obtain it. There were books 
enough in the world, but how could he choose the 
right ones? A newspaper fell under his notice 
containing some mention of the C. L. S. C. ; he 
sent his fee to the office, obtained the books for the 
year, and began to read in the intervals of time be- 
tween customers in his store. For retirement he 
fixed up a desk and shelf of books in the rear of 
the shop. Some of his evening callers said, "What 
have you got back there?'' and he showed his 
books, telling them of the C. L. S. C. A number 



SOME STORIES OF THE C. L. S. C. 215 

of them at once decided to join, and soon he found 
himself the conductor of a Chautauqua Circle with 
twenty members. They fixed up a meeting place 
in a store-room in a garret under the eaves, talked 
over the topics, and read papers. When the text- 
book on electricity was before them, they made 
experiments with home-made batteries and ran 
wires all around the room. The man said, ' ' Those 
fellows look to me to answer all sorts of questions, 
and I find that I am getting beyond my depth. 
I have come to Chautauqua to fill up and I*m 
doing it. But the difficulty is that too many 
things come at the same time; here's a lecture 
on American authors and one on biology, and 
one on history, all at once, and I never know 
which to attend. But Chautauqua is a great 
place, isn't it?'* 

A servant in-a family, while waiting at the table, 
heard the lady and her daughters talking of the 
Circle which was being formed. The girl asked 
her mistress if she would be permitted to join. 
With some hesitation, the lady said, ''Why, yes, if 
you really wish to read the books, you can be a 
member." This serving-maid soon showed herself 
as the brightest scholar in the group, far superioi* 
in her thirst for knowledge to her young mistresses. 
She was encouraged and aided to seek a higher 



2i6 THE STORY OF CHAUTAUQUA 

education, entered a Normal School, and became 
a successful teacher. 

One letter received at the office contained, in 
brief, the following : " I am a working-man with six 
children and I work hard to keep them in school. 
Since I found out about your Circle, I have begun 
to read, getting up early in the morning to do it. 
I am trying hard to keep up, so that my boys will 
see what father does — just as an example to them." 

A letter from a night watchman said, *'I read 
as I come on my rounds to the lights, and think it 
over between times.'* 

A steamboat captain on one of the western 
rivers wrote that he enjoyed reading the books 
and found the recollection of their contents a great 
benefit, *'for when I stand on the deck at night I 
have something good to think about ; and you know 
that when one has not taken care of his thoughts 
they will run away with him and he will think 
about things he ought not." 

I was well acquainted with a gentleman and his 
wife, both of unspotted character, but unfortu- 
nately living apart from some incompatibility. 
He was accustomed to call upon her every fort- 
night, in a formal manner, professedly to meet 
their children, and on one of his visits he mentioned 
that he was beginning the C. L. S. C. readings. She 



SOME STORIES OF THE C. L. S. C. 217 

was desirous of knowing what those letters meant; 
he explained and gave her a circular of information. 
She, too, joined the Circle, and next time at his call 
they spent an evening pleasantly discussing the 
subjects of reading that both were pursuing. From 
a fortnightly they dropped into a weekly interview, 
and after a time spent nearly all their evenings 
together. One day I met them together, and being 
aware of their former relations, I perhaps showed 
surprise. The husband took me aside and said 
that they were now living together very hap- 
pily, thanks to the C. L. S. C. They had for- 
gotten their differences in a common object of 
interest. 

In the early years of the C. L. S. C. one book 
of the course was on the subject of practical 
Christianity. At one time, the religious book was 
The Philosophy of the Plan of Salvation^ by 
Dr. Walker, a work widely read two generations 
ago and regarded as a standard. We received at 
the office a letter from a high-school teacher who 
said that he was an agnostic and did not wish to 
read such a book — could he not read some scien- 
tific work by Tyndall or Huxley in place of it ? Miss 
Kimball referred his letter to me, and I took it to 
Dr. Vincent. He considered the question, and 
then wrote in substance this answer : 



2i8 THE STORY OF CHAUTAUQUA 

If you were a Unitarian, you could read a volume 
by James Martineau; if you were a Roman Catholic, 
you could read one of many good Catholic religious 
books; if you were a Jew you might take some book 
upon your own religion. But you call yourself an 
agnostic, that is, one who does not know God and has 
no religion, and therefore, to meet the requirements of 
your course it will be necessary for you to read some 
candid, sane work on the Christian religion; and such 
is Walker's ''Plan of Salvation." 

The letter closed with a friendly request that 
he would read the book without a strong prej- 
udice against it, and some hearty sympathetic 
sentences which Dr. Vincent knew how to write. 
For a year we heard nothing of the man ; we con- 
cluded that he had been offended at the require- 
ment and had left the Circle. We were surprised 
when at last another letter came from him stating 
that he had read the book, at first unwillingly, but 
later with deep interest ; also that association with 
believers in the Circle had shown them, not as he 
had supposed, narrow and bigoted, but broad in 
their views. He had seen in them a mystic some- 
thing which he desired; he had sought and found 
it. "To-day," he wrote, "I have united with the 
Presbyterian Church, and this evening I led the 
Christian Endeavor meeting." 

Dr. Hale told of a man who had been formerly a 



SOME STORIES OF THE C. L. S. C. 219 

pupil and youth in his church, who was suffering 
from nervous prostration, and lay down in a shack 
in an out-of-the-way place in Florida, almost ready 
to die. His eyes were drawn to the orange-colored 
cover of a magazine which he had never seen be- 
fore, The Chautauguan. He opened it at random 
and began to read. **Are you a child of God? 
Are you a partaker of the divine nature? If you 
are, work with God ! Don't give up working with 
God ! " It seemed to him like a voice from heaven. 
On that moment he said to himself, **I will not 
die, but live!" He began to read the magazine 
and followed it by reading the books to which the 
magazine made reference. They opened before 
him a new field of thought and made of him a new 
man. He told this story to Dr. Hale in his own 
church and said: "I am here because of that 
orange-covered Chautauguan which I found lying 
under the bench in that old cabin." 

It is possible, nay, it is certain, that the Chau- 
tauqua Circle, by being not a church society, but a 
secular organization permeated by the Christian 
spirit, has exercised an influence all the stronger to 
promote an intelligent, broad-minded Christianity. 

Everyone active in Chautauqua work through 
a series of years could narrate many stories like 
the above, and doubtless some more remarkable; 



220 THE STORY OP CHAUTAUQUA 

but I have given only a few out of many that could 
be recalled out of an experience with the C. L. S. C. 
through more than forty years. As I have looked 
upon the representatives of the graduating class 
m the Hall of Philosophy, I have often wished 
that I might know some of the life-stories of those 
who, often through difficulties unknown, have 
carried the course through to completion. 

An eminent minister wrote to me recently as 
follows: 

At a place where I became pastor I found two sisters 
who were living in dark seclusion, brooding in melan- 
cholia as the effect of a great sorrow. They attended 
church, but took no part in our work, and none at all 
in society. I did my best to comfort those young 
women and bring them out of their monasticism. But 
it was all in vain. Their broken spirits revolted 
from a religion of happiness. A few years after my 
pastorate was ended there, and I was preaching else- 
where, I visited the town and was surprised to find 
both those women among the most active women in 
the church, happy, gifted, and universally esteemed. 
What had wrought the change? They chanced to 
hear of the Chautauqua Reading Course and sent for 
the books and magazines. They pursued the course, 
graduated, and visited Chautauqua. It awakened their 
entire being and brought them into a new world. They 
were literally born anew. I have witnessed wonderful 
changes in people, but never any that was more thor- 
ough, real, and permanent than in those young women. 





South Ravine, Near Children's 
Playground 



Muscallonge 




Bathhouse and Jacob Bolin Gymnasium 



SOME STORIES OF THE C. L. S. C. 221 

Let us name also some of the leading events of 
the Assembly of 1884. As the organ of the C. Y. 
F. R. U. Dr. Flood established The Youth's C. L. 
S, C. Paper for boys and girls. It was an illus- 
trated magazine, but only twelve numbers were 
published, as the field for periodical literature 
for young people was already well covered. 
"The Chautauqua Foreign Tour," a series of 
illustrated lectures on the British Isles, was con- 
ducted this year by Rev. Jesse Bowman Young, 
Professor H. H. Ragan, and Mr. George Make- 
peace Towle. Music was abundant and varied 
this season, the choir being led by Professors 
Sherwin and Case in turn; concerts by a remark- 
able quartet, the Meigs Sisters; the delightful 
singers of southern plantation and revival songs, 
the Tennesseans; the Yale College Glee Club; 
Miss Belle McClintock, Mrs. J. C. Hull, Mr. E. O. 
Excell, and Miss Tuthill, soloists. Dr. Charles 
J. Little gave a course of lectures on English litera- 
ture; Dr. Henson, Miss Susan Hayes Ward, Dr. 
J. W. Butler of Mexico, and Dr. S. S. Smith of 
Minnesota were among the lecturers. We heard 
Ram Chandra Bose and Dennis Osborne of India, 
and Sau Aubrah of Burmah, a most interesting 
speaker on the customs of his country and his 
impressions of ours. Principal Fairbairn of Ox- 



222 THE STORY OF CHAUTAUQUA 

ford made the history of philosophy interesting, 
and the Rev. A. J. Palmer of New York won in- 
stant fame by his great war lecture, ** Company D, 
the Die-no-more's," given on Grand Army Day to 
a great concourse of old soldiers. 

On Saturday, August 23d, a reception was given 
to the Governor of Pennsylvania, Hon. Robert E. 
Pattison. Friday, August 15th, was observed as 
the decennial anniversary of the Woman's Chris- 
tian Temperance Union. I find on the program 
of that year a series of colloquies named "The 
Socratic Academy," conducted by Dr. H. H. 
Moore. I know not what subjects they discussed, 
nor how they discussed them, but I remember 
Dr. Moore as one able to shed light on any sub- 
ject that he chose to present. As I read the pro- 
gram of any one of those years at Chautauqua, I 
realize how utterly inadequate must be any sketch 
like the above to bring it before a reader. 

By this time three classes of the C. L. S. C. 
had been graduated, '82, '83, and '84. Four more 
classes were pursuing the course, so that C. L. 
S. C. members present at Chautauqua might now 
be counted by the thousand. There was a strong 
class-spirit. Each class had its name, its motto, 
its badge, and its banner, and ribbon badges were 
fluttering everywhere. Every day came announce- 



SOME STORIES OF THE C. L. S. C. 223 

ments from the platform of class-meetings, and it 
was sometimes difficult to provide for them all. 
During the season of 1884 two classes united their 
interests, raised money, and purchased a small 
octagonal building near the Hall of Philosophy. 
These were the classes of '83 and '85. The move- 
ment for class headquarters was growing; all the 
other classes began the raising of building fimds, 
and those who looked into the future saw all 
around St. Paul's Grove the prospect of small 
buildings rising. How would the grounds appear 
when forty classes should have little headquarters 
— a C. L. S. C. village? The plan began to be 
mooted of a Union Class Building, to be realized 
later. 



CHAPTER XV 

THE chaplain's LEG AND OTHER TRUE TALES 
(1885-1888) 

The twelfth year of the Assembly, 1885, opened 
with a preliminary week, beginning July 7th, for 
the Teachers' Retreat and the School of Lan- 
guages, and closed with "After-week,'* making 
the entire session fifty-three days long, ending on 
August 28th. But the official "opening" did not 
take place imtil the traditional date, Tuesday, 
August 7th. For years, indeed from the begin- 
ning, Dr. Vincent had set his heart on having a 
chime of bells at Chautauqua. The practically 
minded trustees urged for some needed improve- 
ment, and buildings for the growing schools, but 
the poetic conception carried the day, and in 1885 
the Meneely chime of ten bells was heard at the 
opening in July. Some common souls in cottages 
around complained of their frequency, awaking 
folks early in the morning and breaking their naps 
in the afternoon, but to most their mellow music 

was a welcome soimd. 

224 



THE CHAPLAIN'S LEG 225 

It has always been the rule that quiet must 
reign on the grounds after the night bells at 10:00 
P.M., and watchmen have been wont to knock at 
doors where the rule was honored in the breach 
instead of the observance. A parlor full of young 
people enjoying themselves does not always come 
to silence in a minute. I remember one house 
near the Point where dwelt an elderly lady with 
abundant gray hair but a young heart, and also 
with an attractive daughter. That home was 
exceedingly popular among the younger set, and 
their meetings — doubtless held for the discussion 
of serious subjects, for the voices were sometimes 
loud — were often prolonged beyond the time of 
the bells. One night an unusually imperative rap 
of the watchman's stick on the front door startled 
the group. The door was opened a little and the 
matron put forth her head with the words loudly 
spoken, ''Shoot, if you must, this old gray head!" 
whereupon the watchrnan departed without a 
word. 

In the revolution of the Chautauqua Circle, 1885 
was known as the Roman year, having as its major 
subject Latin history and literature. The studies 
of the ''Foreign Tour" in the Assembly program 
embraced lectures, with illustrations on Italian 
cities and scenery. Dr. Vincent *s fertile mind 

IS 



226 THE STORY OF CHAUTAUQUA 

conceived a plan to aid the students of the course, 
and incidentally to advertise it, by a series of 
object-lessons. He divided Pratt Avenue, the 
path leading up to the college on the hill, into sec- 
tions corresponding by their relative lengths to the 
periods of Roman history, and erected at the 
proper points along the road, posts to commemo- 
rate the leading events, with dates and names of 
the great men of the several periods. These mile- 
stones were black, with inscriptions in white. As 
people passed by they would be reminded of the 
leading facts in the story of the Eternal City. 
Often might be seen members of the C. L. S. C, 
notebook in hand, storing their minds with the 
dates and events in the annals of Rome. The 
coal-black pillars had a somewhat sepulchral look 
and suggested a graveyard. One lady who was a 
stranger at Chautauqua, and evidently not a 
member of the C. L. S. C, asked Dr. R. S. Holmes, 
one of the leading workers, *'Can you tell me why 
all these tombstones have been set up here. Surely 
all the men named on them cannot be buried along 
this street!" The question was also asked if it 
was proposed each year to set up a row of trophies 
on other streets for the American year, the Eng- 
lish year, the Greek year, and by degrees to turn 
all Chautauqua into a memorial grove for great 



THE CHAPLAIN'S LEG 227 

men and great deeds of all the ages ; but at the close 
of the season the monuments were gathered up 
and carried away, leaving no successors. 

The lecture platform of 1885 was as strong as 
ever. Dr. Charles F. Deems of New York de- 
livered the baccalaureate sermon on Sunday, 
August 1 6th, an unique discourse on the short text, 
"One New Man" (Eph. 2:15), and the Recogni- 
tion Address on the following Wednesday was by 
Dr. E. E. Hale of Boston. A special series of 
"Yale University Historical Lectures" was given 
by Professor Arthur M. Wheeler. Bishop Cyrus 
D. Foss of the Methodist Episcopal Church 
preached on Sunday, August 23d. Dr. John P. 
Newman delivered a lecture on August 25th in 
memory of President U. S. Grant, of whom he had 
been a friend and pastor. This year a young man 
made his first appearance upon the Chautauqua 
platform, not yet as a lecturer, but introducing 
speakers in felicitous sentences and presiding with 
the ease of an experienced chairman. This was 
Mr. George Edgar Vincent, just graduated from 
Yale University, from whom Chautauqua and the 
world in general was to hear before many years. 

In 1885, the institution received a new charter 
from the Legislature of New York, giving it the 
name "Chautauqua University" and the power 



228 THE STORY OF CHAUTAUQUA 

to confer degrees. By vote of the Board, the title 
** Chancellor of the Chautauqua University'* was 
given to Dr. Vincent. It was hoped to establish a 
college for study by correspondence, with reviews 
of the subjects taught in the summer meeting. 
But the expense of a professional staff was great 
and the number of students was not large enough 
to support it without an endowment. The Chau- 
tauqua University might have won a place in the 
world of education, if friends had been found to 
bestow upon it a liberal endowment, but among 
the varied gifts of Dr. Vincent was not that pecu- 
liar talent for raising money. The University 
did not prosper, and in 1898 the Trustees volun- 
tarily surrendered to the Regents of the 
University of the State of New York the examina- 
tion of candidates and the conferring of degrees. 
Again the title was changed and the University 
became **The Chautauqua System of Education." 
The year 1886 ushered in some improvements. 
In place of the old wharf stood a new pier building, 
three stories high, with stores on the upper bal- 
cony, for the steamboat still brought most of the 
Chautauqua crowds and at their arrival a throng 
was always present to greet them. Above the 
building rose a tower, from which sounded forth 
over the lake and through the Grove the melody 



THE CHAPLAIN'S LEG 229 

of the Chautauqua chimes. On the hill was the 
new Jewett House, given by Mrs. A. H. Jewett as 
a home for self-supporting young women, teachers 
and others, while at Chautauqua. 

The program of that year shows that a faculty 
of sixteen conducted the work in the Chautauqua 
Teachers' Retreat, and fifteen others gave courses 
in the School of Languages. Lessons in Harmony, 
Organ and Piano, Drawing and Painting were also 
added. The Chautauqua School of Physical Edu- 
cation was established under the direction of Dr. 
W. G. Anderson. All these were signs that the 
system of summer schools at Chautauqua was in- 
creasing its range of study, as well as growing in 
the number of its students. 

One of the lecturers at this season was Professor 
Caleb T. Winchester of Wesleyan University. It 
was a privilege to listen to his scholarly yet de- 
Hghtful account of a ramble in the English lake 
country, with estimates of the Hterary lights who 
made that region famous. Dr. Wm. H. Milburn, 
the blind chaplain of the United States Senate, 
Dr. Russell H. Conwell, with his lecture of "Acres 
of Diamonds," Dr. Edward E. Hale and Mrs. 
Mary A. Livermore also gave lectures. Dr. 
Hale read his story. In His Name; and at the 
close of his reading came a general rush for his 



230 THE STORY OP CHAUTAUQUA 

autograph. I happened to be in charge of the 
platform, and tried to excuse the speaker from 
adding to his burdens, but he declared his wilHng- 
ness to meet the demands of the people and wrote 
in every album offered. In the crowd was a little 
girl, shabbily dressed, who had no album, but 
brought a scrap of brown paper which she had 
picked up. Dr. Hale looked at the torn fragment, 
then took the copy of his story from which he had 
been reading, wrote on its fly-leaf his name, and 
handed it to the little girl. 

Two lecturers from the South attracted atten- 
tion. One was the Rev. J. W. Lee, an able, 
broad-minded man; the other was the unique 
evangelist, Rev. Sam P. Jones, whose utterances 
were sometimes eloquent, sometimes jocose, some- 
times shocking, but always interesting. Dr. Willis 
J. Beecher of the Auburn Theological Seminary, 
Dr. John Hall of New York, and President William 
F. Warren of Boston University were also among 
the speakers. 

Readings were given by Will M. Carleton, 
George W. Cable, and General Lew Wallace, from 
their own writings. An immense crowd packed the 
Amphitheater to hear General Wallace read from 
his Ben Hur the story of the Chariot Race. But 
candor compels us to say that it was not very 




Athletic Club 





• ■■*,. 









Boys' Club Headed for Camp 



THE CHAPLAIN'S LEG 231 

thrillingly rendered. One who listened said, "He 
never got his horses off the walk." Other readers 
were George Riddle of Boston and Professor R. L. 
Cumnock of Northwestern University. This sum- 
mer Mrs. Frank Beard collected and conducted 
an Oriental Exhibition. 

Almost every year Frank Beard was at Chau- 
tauqua, teaching a class in art, making pictures in 
the children's class, giving one or two crayon 
lectures, and occasionally on Sunday evenings an 
illustrated Bible reading. As already intimated, 
that was the age when there was a craze for auto- 
graphs, and everybody carried around an auto- 
graph album, seeking signatures from the celeb- 
rities. After a popular lecture a crowd hastened 
to the platform and a hundred hands, each holding 
an album, would be stretched out toward the 
speaker, demanding his autograph. Of course 
every child, and nearly every grown-up, must have 
Frank, Beard's autograph, and with it a picture 
drawn by his hand. Frank said once in a religious 
meeting that his idea of heaven was a place where 
there were no autograph albums. 

Every year at Chautauqua is held a National 
Army Day, when the Civil War veterans from 
near and far assemble, wear their G. A. R. uni- 
forms and badges, and listen to an address in the 



232 THE STORY OF CHAUTAUQUA 

Amphitheater. One year, I think it was 1886, 
but I am not sure, the orator was late in coming, 
and Mr. Beard, himself a veteran of the war, was 
called upon to fill the vacancy. He told the story 
of "The Chaplain's Leg," of which some incredu- 
lous people have doubted the authenticity. As I 
remember it was somewhat as follows. He would 
come forward, slapping his right leg, and saying: 

That is a good leg, but it isn't mine. It belonged 
once to the chaplain of our regiment; I was in a 
battle and happened to have a tree between myself and 
the whole rebel army. There was a change in the 
front, and I started to make a detour to another tree. 
Just in the middle of my march I ran against the 
chaplain, who was also making a detoiu*, and at that 
moment came along a rebel shell, which took off one 
of his legs and also one of mine. We lay on the ground 
only a minute or two, and then an ambulance took us 
and the two legs on board. They carried us to the 
field hospital, and put on our legs, which grew just as 
they should, so that after a few weeks I was dismissed 
as cured. Well, I had been a long time, for me, with- 
out liquid refreshment, and I knew that out in the 
woods near the camp was an extemporized bar, in the 
shape of a board laid on two stumps of trees. I found 
it hard to walk in that direction, and had to pull my 
right leg along; but I thought that it needed only a 
little practice to be as good as ever. I got to the bar 
and ordered a glass of something; it might have been 
ginger-pop or it might have been something else. Just 
after it was poured out and before I could take hold of 



THE CHAPLAIN'S LEG 233 

it, that right leg of mine lifted itself up and kicked 
over the whole contraption — glass, and jug, and bar, 
and then in spite of all I could do, stumped me back to 
camp! And on the way I passed the chaplain who 
was being dragged out to the bar, while I was being 
pulled away from it. Then I knew what had hap- 
pened in the hospital; they had put each leg on the 
wrong man, and I must carry around the chaplain's 
leg as long as I lived. The leg took me to church ; at 
first it was pretty tough, but I got used to it. That 
leg brought me to Chautauqua, and here I am to-day, 
brought by the chaplain's leg. Some time ago I gave 
by request a lecture with pictures in the Sing Sing 
prison, and there among the convicts sat my old friend 
the chaplain, wearing a striped suit. What brought 
him there I can't imagine, unless — well, I don't know 
what it was. 

The Assembly of 1887 was fifty-eight days in 
length, from July 2d to August 28th. The schools 
were still growing in the number of students and en- 
larging their courses. Some of the new depart- 
ments were the Arabic and Assyrian languages, 
mathematics, chemistry, oratory and expression, 
stenography, mineralogy, and geology. To house 
these classes and the army of students, buildings 
were urgently needed, and this year a College 
Building arose overlooking the lake. It stood 
until two years ago, when on account of its dilapi- 
dation as well as its incongruity with the modern 
plans of the schools, it was taken down. 



234 THE STORY OF CHAUTAUQUA 

During the season of 1887, the Fourth of July- 
Address was given by Hon. Roswell G. Horr, 
member of Congress from Michigan. Dr. Fair- 
bairn from Oxford was with us again, also the 
Rev. Mark Guy Pearse of England, Dr. Charles J. 
Little, Dr. John A. Broadus of Louisville, one of 
those scholars who know how to present great truths 
in a simple manner. Chaplain McCabe, Dr. Charles 
R. Henderson, on social questions of the time, and 
Mrs. Mary A. Livermore. Rev. Sam P. Jones 
was also on the platform for the second season. 
He gave his powerful sermon on *' Conscience'* 
with not a sentence to provoke a smile, but a 
strong call to righteousness. Another address, 
however, contained an application which called 
forth a smile all over the audience. It was known 
that Dr. Vincent was being strongly talked of as a 
candidate for Bishop in the Methodist Episcopal 
Church, and in the following May, 1888, he was 
elected to that office. Dr. Vincent was presiding 
at Mr. Jones' lecture. In the address Jones man- 
aged to bring in an allusion to bishops. Then 
turning halfway round toward the chairman, he 
said, ''Doctor Vincent, I shouldn't wonder if they 
made you and me bishops before long. You see 
the thing's coming down." 

The class graduating this year in the C. L. S. C. 



THE CHAPLAIN'S LEG 235 

was the largest in the history of the Circle. It in- 
cluded in its membership the Rev. G. R. Alden and 
his wife, and was named in her honor, the Pansy- 
class. At this time the enrolled members of the C. 
L. S. C. were more than eighty thousand in number. 

The Assembly of 1888 opened on July 3d and 
closed on August 29th, fifty-eight days in length. 
The summer school was now announced as the 
College of Liberal Arts. I notice in the list of 
subjects taught: Old French, Scandinavian lan- 
guages and literature, Sanskrit, Zend and Gothic, 
Hebrew and Semitic languages, and philology. It 
is not to be supposed that all of these classes were 
overcrowded with students, but those in physical 
culture and arts and crafts were very popular. 
The annual exhibition of the gymnastic classes has 
been for years one of the most thronged events on 
the program, and in anticipation the Amphi- 
theater is filled long in advance of the hour for 
beginning the exercises. 

Among the lecturers of this season were Mrs. 
Alden, "Pansy," who read a new story, The Hall 
in the Grove; Dr. William R. Harper, Dr. Frank 
W. Gunsaulus, Dr. Joseph Cook, Dr. Talmage, 
Dr. Hale, General Russell A. Alger, and George 
W. Bain. Dr. Phillips Brooks, giant in body and 
in soul, preached one of his sermons, sweeping 



236 THE STORY OF CHAUTAUQUA 

in swift utterances like a tidal wave. One hardly 
dared draw a breath for fear of losing his mighty 
periods. Bishop William Taylor of Africa, was 
also present, and thrilled his hearers, yet in a calm, 
quiet manner, absolutely free from any oratorical 
display. There was a charm in his address and 
the most critical hearers felt it, yet could not 
analyze it. I met, not at Chautauqua but else- 
where, a lawyer who admitted that he rarely at- 
tended church because he could not endure the 
dull sermons; but after listening to Bishop Taylor, 
said that if he could hear that man he would go to 
church twice, even three times, on a Sunday. And 
yet in all his discourse there was not a rhetorical 
sentence nor a rounded period. 

Mr. Leon H. Vincent was again at Chautauqua, 
with his literary lectures. Either during this 
season or the one when he came next — for he was 
generally present every alternate year — it became 
necessary to move Leon Vincent's lectures from 
the Hall of Philosophy to the Amphitheater, on 
account of the nimiber who were eager to hear 
them. Among those who gave readings were Mr. 
Charles F. Underhill of New York, Mr. George 
Riddle, and Professor R. L. Cumnock. 

The Methodists, both of the North and the 
South, have always formed a large element in the 



THE CHAPLAIN'S LEG 237 

Chautauqua constituency, partly because of their 
number throughout the continent, but also because 
both the Founders of the Assembly were members 
of that church. This year, 1888, the Methodist 
House was opened, in the center of the ground, 
and at once became the social rallying place of the 
denomination. Its chapel, connected with the 
House, was built afterward by the all-year resi- 
dents at Chautauqua as the home of the com- 
munity church, which is open to all and attended 
by all, the only church having a resident pastor 
and holding services through the year, nominally 
under the Methodist system, but practically 
undenominational. 

In May, 1888, Dr. John H. Vincent, after twenty 
years in charge of the Sunday School work as 
Secretary and Editor, was elected and conse- 
crated a Bishop in the Methodist Episcopal 
Church. For some years his episcopal residence 
was at Buffalo, within easy distance of Chautau- 
qua, but his new duties required him to travel 
even more widely than before, and he needed an 
assistant to care for the work of the Assembly. 
Mr. George E. Vincent, able son of distinguished 
father, was this year appointed Vice-Principal of 
Instruction, and assumed a closer supervision of 
the program of Chautauqua. 



238 THE STORY OF CHAUTAUQUA 

In this year, also, Dr. William Rainey Harper 
was made Principal of the College of Liberal Arts, 
all the departments of the Summer School being 
under his direction. Another name appears on 
the record of 1888, the name of Alonzo A. Stagg, 
haloed in the estimate of young Chautauqua with 
a glory even surpassing that of the two Founders. 
For Stagg, just graduated from Yale, could curve 
a baseball more marvelously than any other man 
in America. He was one of the instructors in the 
gymnasium, and organized a team that played 
with most of the baseball clubs for miles around 
Chautauqua, almost invariably winning the game. 
It was said that the athletic field rivaled the 
Amphitheater in its crowds when Stagg played. 



CHAPTER XVI 

A NEW LEAF IN LUKE's GOSPEL 
(1 889-1 892) 

The Assembly of 1889 opened on July 3d and 
continued fifty-five days, to August 26th. Several 
new buildings had arisen since the last session. One 
was the Anne M. Kellogg Memorial Hall, built by 
Mr. James H. Kellogg of Rochester, New York, in 
honor of his mother. In it were rooms for kinder- 
garten, clay modeling, china painting, and a 
meeting place for the Chautauqua W. C. T. U. 
It stood originally on the site of the present Colon- 
nade Building, the business block, and was moved 
to its present location to make room for that build- 
ing. Mr. Kellogg was an active worker in the 
Sunday School movement and from the beginning 
a regular visitor at Chautauqua. Another build- 
ing of this year was the one formerly known as the 
Administration Office, on Clark Avenue in front 
of the book-store and the old Museum, now the 
Information Bureau and the School of Expression. 
When the offices of the Institution were removed 

239 



240 THE STORY OF CHAUTAUQUA 

to the Colonnade, the old Administration Building 
was given up to business, and it is now known as a 
lunch-room. The School of Physical Culture, 
under Dr. W. G. Anderson, had grown to such an 
extent that a new gymnasium had become a neces- 
sity, and one had been erected on the lake-front. 
In the newer part of the grounds many private 
cottages arose, of more tasteful architecture than 
the older houses. 

A notable event of this season was the visit of 
former President Rutherford B. Hayes of Ohio. 
Among the lecturers of 1889 we find the name of 
Mr. Donald G. Mitchell, whose Reveries of a 
Bachelor and Dream-Life, published under the 
pseudonym of Ik Marvel, are recognized classics 
in American literature. Other eminent men on 
the platform were Professor Hjalmar H. Boyesen 
of Columbia University, Professor J. P. Mahaffy 
of Dublin University, Dr. Lyman Abbott, Dr. 
Frank W. Gunsaulus, Dr. Washington Gladden, 
Dr. John Henry Barrows, Professor Frederick 
Starr, who could make anthropology interesting 
to those who had never studied it. Professor Her- 
bert B. Adams, and Corporal Tanner, the U. S. 
Commissioner of Pensions, a veteran who walked 
on two cork legs, but was able to stand up and give 
a heart-warming address to the old soldiers. Dr. 











•§ 



si 



A NEW LEAF IN LUKE'S GOSPEL 241 

W. R. Harper, who was teaching in the School 
of Theology, gave a course of lectures on the 
Hebrew prophets. Bishop Cyrus D. Foss, one of 
the great preachers of the Methodist Episcopal 
Church, delivered a sermon on one of the Sundays. 
The South sent us an able lecturer in Richard 
Malcolm Johnson. The orator on Recognition 
Day, of the Class of '89, was Dr. David Swing of 
Chicago, who spoke on "The Beautiful and the 
Useful." Dr. Russell H. Conwell gave some 
lectures, abundant in their illustrative stories. 

I think that this was the year, but am not cer- 
tain, when Dr. Conwell preached one Sunday in the 
Amphitheater a sermon of remarkable originality, 
listened to with the closest attention by his hearers, 
because he kept them guessing as to his subject 
until he was more than half-way through. He 
said in opening, *'I will give my text at the end of 
the sermon, if I don't forget it; but I will tell you 
my subject. I am going to speak of a man whom 
our Lord called the Model Church Member." 
We all began wondering who that man was, but 
nobody could recall him. He said that this model 
man lived among the mountains, and spoke of the 
influence of surroundings upon character; then 
that where he lived there were two churches, one 

large, the other small, one aristocratic and popular, 
16 



242 THE STORY OF CHAUTAUQUA 

the other of the lower classes, despised; and that 
this man was a member of the chtirch looked down 
upon; but these facts gave us no hint as to the 
model man's identity. He puzzled us once more 
by saying that this was a business man who had 
good credit, and we were still in the fog; — when 
did Jesus ever talk about credit? Then he told 
in graphic manner, making it seem as if it had 
happened the day before, the story of the Good 
Samaritan, and the problem was solved. But he 
astonished us again by saying, "There was one 
part of this story which for some reason St. Luke 
left out of his gospel, and I am going to tell it 
now"; — and of course everybody was eager to 
hear a brand-new Bible story not found in the 
Scriptures. He told that this man who had been 
robbed and beaten on the Jericho road, after 
his recovery at the inn, went home to Jerusalem, 
met his family, and then took his two boys up to 
the Temple to return thanks for his restoration. 
The service in all its splendor was described. One 
boy said, ** Father, see that priest waving a censer! 
What a good man he must be!" But the man 
said, "My boy, don't look at that hypocrite! 
That is the very priest who left me to die beside the 
road!" After a few minutes, the younger boy 
said, "See that Levi te blowing a trumpet! He 



A NEW LEAF IN LUKE'S GOSPEL 243 

looks like a good man, doesn't he?" And the 
father said, "My boys, that is the very Levite that 
passed me by when I was lying wounded ! Let us 
go away from this place." And then one of the 
boys said, "Let us find the church of the Good 
Samaritan, and worship there." And Dr. Con- 
well added, "My text is, 'Go thou and do like- 
wise!'" No one who heard that sermon, so full 
of surprises, could ever forget it. 

The elocutionary readers who entertained us 
during that season were Professor Cumnock, 
A. P. Burbank, George Riddle, George W. Cable, 
reading his own stories, and Mr. Leland Powers 
of Boston, with his rendering of David Copper- 
field y several other stories, and a play or two. 
Without the aid of costume or "making up," it 
was wonderful how he could change facial expres- 
sion, and voice, and manner instantaneously with 
his successive characters. We saw Mr. Micawber 
transformed in an instant into Uriah Heep. From 
1889, Mr. Powers was a frequent visitor, and his 
rendering of novels and plays enraptured the 
throngs in the Amphitheater. For many seasons 
he was wont to appear on alternate years. On 
Old First Night, when the call was made for those 
present on the successive years, while the regulars 
stood up and remained standing as each year was 



244 THE STORY OF CHAUTAUQUA 

named, it was interesting to watch the down-sit- 
tings and uprisings of Leland Powers. But we 
shall hear his voice no more, for even while we 
are writing the news of his death comes to us. 

In this year, 1889, the musical classes were or- 
ganized as the Chautauqua School of Music, with 
instructors in all departments. Inasmuch as all 
people do not enjoy the sound of a piano, practic- 
ing all day scales and exercises, a place was found 
in the rear of the grounds for a village of small 
cottages, some might call them "huts," each 
housing a piano for lessons and practice. I am 
told that forty-eight pianos may be heard there 
all sending out music at once, and each a different 
tune. 

The year 1889 brought another man to Chau- 
tauqua who was well-beloved and will be long 
remembered, the pianist and teacher, William H. 
Sherwood, who showed himself a true Chautauquan 
by his willing, helpful spirit, no less than by his 
power on the piano. When death stilled those 
wondrous fingers, Mr. Sherwood's memory was 
honored by the Sherwood Memorial Studios, dedi- 
cated in 1912. 

When we realize that Chautauqua is a city of 
frame-buildings, packed closely together on nar- 
row streets, in the early years having exceedingly 



A NEW LEAF IN LUKE'S GOSPEL 245 

inadequate protection against fires, we almost 
wonder that it has never been overswept by a 
conflagration. From time to time there have been 
fires, most of them a benefit in clearing away old 
shacks of the camp-meeting strata; and one took 
place on a night during the season of 1889. It 
swept away a row of small houses along the south- 
western border of Miller Park, toward the Land 
of Palestine. Their site was kept unoccupied, 
leaving a clear view of the lake, except on one 
comer where a handsome building was erected, 
the Arcade. While the main entrance to the 
grounds was at the Pier, this was a prosperous 
place of business, but after the back door became 
the front door, through the coming of the Chau- 
tauqua Traction Company, giving railroad connec- 
tion with the outside world, the business center of 
Chautauqua shifted to streets up the hill. 

The year 1890 came, bringing the seventeenth 
session of the Assembly. This was the year when 
the Presbyterian House was opened, and also the 
C. L. S. C. building, erected by Flood and Vincent, 
for Mr. George E. Vincent was now a partner with 
Dr. Flood in publishing The Chautauquan Magazine 
and the books of the C. L. S. C. Subsequently 
the business of publication was assumed by the 
Institution, and the building has been for many 



246 THE STORY OF CHAUTAUQUA 

years the book-store, with rooms on the floor above 
for classes in the School of Expression. 

An announcement in the program of the College 
of Liberal Arts was that a School of Journal- 
ism would be conducted by Hamilton Wright 
Mabie, essayist, and one of the editors of The Out- 
look. Leon H. Vincent gave another course of 
literary lectures. Dr. Henry L. Wayland of 
Philadelphia was one of the speakers. John 
Habberton, author of the "best seller" some years 
before, Helen's Bahies^ lectured, read, joined the 
C. L. S. C. Class of 1894, and was made its Presi- 
dent. Dr. Francis E. Clark, father of the Chris- 
tian Endeavor Society, came and was greeted by 
a host of young Endeavorers. Dr. Alexander 
McKenzie of Cambridge, Mass., preached a great 
sermon. Mr. Robert J. Burdette, at that time an 
editor, but afterwards a famous Baptist preacher, 
gave one of his wisely-witty lectures. The Hon. 
John Jay, worthy son of one of New York's most 
distinguished families, gave an address. Dr. 
Fairbairn of Oxford was again among us, with his 
deep lectures, yet clear as the waters of Lake 
Tahoe. The orator on Recognition Day was 
Mrs. Alice Freeman Palmer, whose term as Presi- 
dent made Wellesley great. Mr. Thomas Nelson 
Page gave readings from his own stories of south- 



A NEW LEAF IN LUKE'S GOSPEL 247 

ern life before the Civil War. A young man 
appeared on the platform for the first time, but 
not the last, who was destined to stand forth in a 
few years as one of the foremost of Americans. 
This was Theodore Roosevelt, whose lectures at 
Chautauqua were later expanded into the volumes 
on The Winning 0} the West. Colonel Thomas 
Wentworth Higginson, soldier and historian, also 
gave lectures. 

At the opening of the season in 1891, the mem- 
bers of the Chautauqua Circle counted more than 
a hundred thousand. Nine classes had been 
graduated, another large class was to receive its 
diplomas during that summer, and there were 
three undergraduate classes each of nearly twenty 
thousand members, with another class as large in 
prospect. Only a small section of each class could 
be present at Chautauqua, the vast majority of 
its members being far away, some in distant lands. 
But among those who came to the Assembly, the 
social spirit was strong. They loved to meet each 
other, held social reunions and business meetings 
constantly. Each of the four oldest classes, from 
'82 to '85, had its own building as headquarters, 
but all the later classes were homeless and in need 
of homes. It was a great boon to these classes 
when at last, in 1891, the C. L. S. C. Alumni Hall 



248 THE STORY OF CHAUTAUQUA 

was completed and opened. Its eight classrooms 
were distributed by lot and furnished by the gifts 
of the members. As new classes were organized 
year after year, they were welcomed by the 
classes already occupying the rooms. It was not 
many years before each room became the home of 
two classes, then after eight years more of three 
classes, meeting on different days, but united in 
the general reception on the evening before the 
Recognition Day. Beside the eight class-rooms 
on the second floor of the Alumni Building there 
is a large hall which is used before the Recognition 
Day by the graduating class, and during the rest 
of the season by the new entering class. In 1916, 
after the death of Miss Kate F. Kimball, Secretary 
of the C. L. S. C, this hall was named **The Kim- 
ball Room.'* The Alumni Building with its wide 
porches became at Chautauqua a social center for 
the members of the Circle and many have been the 
friendships formed there. On this season of 1891 
the United Presbyterian House was opened. 

The section of the Summer Schools formerly 
known as The Teachers' Retreat, but now begin- 
ning to be called "The School of Pedagogy,'* was 
this year (1891) under the direction of that master- 
teacher and inspiring leader, Colonel Francis W. 
Parker of Chicago. He gave several lectures on 



A NEW LEAF IN LUKE'S GOSPEL 249 

the principles of teaching, but many besides the 
teachers listened to them with equal interest and 
profit. One of these lectures was entitled, "The 
Artisan and the Artist"; the artisan representing 
those in every vocation of life who do their work 
by rule; the artist, those who pay little attention 
to regulations, but teach, or preach, or design 
buildings, or paint pictures out of their hearts; 
and these are the Pestalozzis, the Michael Angelos, 
the Beechers of their several professions. We had 
a course of delightful essay-lectures in the Hall of 
Philosophy by Miss Agnes Repplier. The Rabbi 
of the Temple Emanuel in New York, Dr. Gustave 
Gottheil, gave some enlightening lectures upon the 
principles of the Jewish faith. At that time a 
prominent Roman Catholic priest, the Rev. 
Edward McGlynn, was in rebellion against the 
hierarchy of his church, and maintaining a vigor- 
ous controversy in behalf of religious freedom. 
He had been dismissed from one of the largest 
churches in New York, and with voice and pen 
was denouncing the Pope, Cardinals, and Bishops. 
Father McGlynn came to Chautauqua and de- 
livered a powerful address in the Amphitheater, 
pouring forth a torrent of language, shot as from a 
rapid-firing cannon. While at Chautauqua he 
was entertained at a dinner in one of the cottages 



250 THE STORY OF CHAUTAUQUA 

with a number of invited guests. From the mo- 
ment of meeting at the table, he began to talk in 
his forceful manner, never stopping to take breath. 
Dr. Buckley was present and several times opened 
his mouth but found no chance to interject a word, 
which was an unusual state of affairs for one who 
generally led the conversation. 

Another speaker who was heard with interest 
was Jacob A. Riis, with his illustrated lecture on 
"How the Other Half Lives." Mr. Riis was only 
a newspaper reporter, not occupying an editorial 
chair, but Theodore Roosevelt spoke of him as 
"New York's most useful citizen." The cause of 
woman stiffrage and reform had a splendid showing 
this season, for Frances E. Willard, Anna Howard 
Shaw, Susan B. Anthony, and Mary A. Livermore, 
all spoke upon the Amphitheater platform. A 
visitor who made many friends was Rev. Dr. 
Percival, headmaster of Rugby School. Julia 
Ward Howe gave interesting reminiscences of 
Longfellow, Emerson, and other literary lights 
whom she had known intimately. John Fiske, 
one of America's greatest historians, gave a course 
of lectures on the discovery and settlement of this 
continent. Another historian whom we heard 
was John Bach McMaster, whose lectures were 
like a series of dissolving views, picture succeed- 




Post-Office Building 




The Business and Administration Building 



A NEW LEAF IN LUKE'S GOSPEL 251 

ing picture, each showing the great events and 
the great men of their period. In this year Dr. 
Horatio R. Palmer assumed charge of the musical 
department, and for the first time waved his baton 
before the great chorus in the Amphitheater 
gallery. 

As everybody knows, the four hundredth an- 
niversary of the discovery of America was ob- 
served everywhere in 1892. Chautauqua com- 
memorated it in lectures on Columbus and his 
fellow-voyagers, and by a pageant presenting 
scenes from the history. The Chautauqua class 
graduating that year was named the Columbia 
Class, and as its members, several hundred strong, 
marched in the procession, Chancellor Vincent 
was astonished to see in the line his wife, wearing 
the graduating badge of cardinal ribbon. She 
had read the course through four years and kept it 
a secret from him, revealed for the first time at 
that Recognition service. The address on that 
day was delivered by Dr. Frank W. Gunsaulus on 
'*The Ideal of Culture." 

Among the chief speakers in 1892 we find the 
names of two Presidents of Cornell University, 
Dr. Andrew D. White and Dr. James G. Schur- 
man; Dr. J. Monro Gibson, a London pastor and 
one of the Board of Counsel of the C. L. S. C. was 



252 THE STORY OF CHAUTAUQUA 

with us; also Ballington Booth, Henry Watterson, 
the journalist, and President Merrill E. Gates of 
Amherst College. At this session also the Girls' 
Club was organized and conducted by Miss Mary 
H. Mather of Wilmington, Del. 

In the announcements of this year, the title of 
Chautauqua University was allowed to lapse, 
and in place of it appeared **The Chautauqua 
System of Education." 



CHAPTER XVn 

CLUB LIFE AT CHAUTAUQUA 
(1893-1896) 

When the Chautauquans gathered for the 
twentieth Assembly on July i, 1893, they found 
some changes had taken place. The old Amphi- 
theater, which had faithfully served its generation, 
but had fallen into decrepitude, no longer lifted its 
forest of wooden pillars over the ravine. In its 
place stood a new Amphitheater, more roomy and 
far more suitable to the needs of the new day. 
It was covered by a trussed roof supported by steel 
columns standing around the building, so that 
from every seat was an unobstructed view of the 
platform. The choir-gallery was enlarged to pro- 
vide seats for five hundred. The platform was 
brought further into the hall, making room for an 
orchestra. The seats were more comfortable, and 
could now hold without crowding fifty-six hundred 
people. A few years later, the old organ gave 
place to a greater and better one, the gift of the 
Massey family of Toronto, a memorial of their 

353 



254 THE STORY OF CHAUTAUQUA 

father, the late Hart A. Massey, one of the early- 
Trustees of the Assembly. Under the choir-loft 
and on either side of the organ, rooms were ar- 
ranged for offices and classes in the Department 
of Music. 

During the previous season, 1892, a Men's Club 
had been organized and had found temporary 
quarters. It now possessed a home on the shore 
of the Lake, beside Palestine Park. In its rooms 
were games of various sorts, cards, however, being 
still under the ban at Chautauqua. ^ Newspapers 
and periodicals, shower-baths, and an out-of-door 
parlor on the roof, very pleasant except on the 
days when the lake flies invaded it. The Men's 
Club building had formerly been the power house 
of the electrical plant, but one who had known it of 

* From the Handbook of Information published by the Chau- 
tauqua Institution (19 18) we give the following extract. "The 
Chautauqua tradition which taboos card playing and social 
dancing, and the rule which forbids the sale or importation of 
alcoholic beverages, disclose the influence which dominated the 
early life of the Assembly. As to card playing and dancing, the 
tradition is preserved not because all agree in condemning these 
things in themselves, but because they are deemed unsuitable to 
Chautauqua conditions and even hostile to its life. It is believed 
that they would prove divisive and distracting, and that they 
suggest a very different type of society from that which Chau- 
tauqua seeks to set up for a few summer weeks. Chautauqua, 
therefore, disapproves these diversions as not only unnecessary, 
but as involving disintegrating influences. The fact that many 
who indulge in these amusements at home express gratification 
that they are not permitted at Chautauqua is significant." 



CLUB LIFE AT CHAUTAUQUA 255 

old would scarcely recognize it as reconstructed, 
enlarged, and decorated. To make a place for the 
dynamo of the electric system, an encroachment 
had been made upon Palestine Park; a cave had 
been dug under Mount Lebanon, and the dynamo 
installed within its walls. The age of King Hiram 
of Tyre, who cut the cedars of Lebanon for Solo- 
mon's Temple, and the age of Edison, inventor of 
the electric light, were thus brought into incon- 
gruous juxtaposition. A chimney funnel on the 
summit of Mount Lebanon, it must be confessed, 
seemed out of place, and the Valley of Coele- 
Syria, between Lebanon and Hermon, was entirely 
obHterated. Bible students might shake their 
heads disapprovingly, but even sacred archaeology 
must give way to the demands of civilization. 

An improvement less obvious to the eye, but 
more essential to health, was the installation of a 
complete sewer system. As the sewage is not al- 
lowed to taint the water of the lake, it is carried 
by pipes to a disposal plant at the lower end of the 
ground and chemically purified. The water ren- 
dered as clear as crystal is then permitted to run 
into the lake, while the sludge is pressed by ma- 
chinery into cakes used as fertilizer. An artesian 
well on high ground supplies pure water in abun- 
dance, with taps at convenient places for families. 



256 THE STORY OF CHAUTAUQUA 

Originally the water in use came from wells. 
These were carefully tested by scientific experts, 
and most of them were condemned, but a few were 
found to give forth pure water and are still in use, 
though frequently and carefully tested. Near 
the Men's Club is a spring of mineral water con- 
taining sulphur and iron. It has the approval of 
chemists and physicians, and many drink it for 
its healthful effect. 

One who looks over the programs of Chautauqua 
through successive years will notice the number 
of the clubs for various classes and ages. Largest 
of all is the Woman's Club, of which Mrs. Emily 
Htmtington Miller was the first President, suc- 
ceeded by Mrs. B. T. Vincent, and carried on under 
her leadership for many years. When on account 
of failing health Mrs. Vincent felt compelled to 
resign her office, her place was taken by Mrs. 
Percy V. Pennybacker of Texas, who had been 
President of the General Federation of Woman's 
Clubs in the United States. This Club includes 
more than two thousand members, and its daily 
meeting in the Hall of Philosophy brings together 
a throng, often too large for the building. In 191 8 
the Club piirchased a cottage fronting on the lake, 
near the Hotel Athenaeum, as a headquarters, a place 
for social gatherings and rest rooms for women. 



CLUB LIFE AT CHAUTAUQUA 257 

Besides the Women's Clubs and the Men's 
Club, there are at least a dozen other associations 
of people having tastes and interests bringing 
them together. We will name the most important 
of these without regard to their chronological 
order. 

There is the Athletic Club for men and boys over 
sixteen, directing the organized sports and pro- 
viding all forms of out-of-door recreation. It has 
a club house on the lake with bowHng alleys and 
boat room, shower baths and lockers, and a reading 
room. 

The Golf Club has a nine-hole course, situated 
on the rising ground of eighty acres opposite the 
traction station. The money has been con- 
tributed for a Country Club House, soon to be 
built at the entrance. The donors, it is under- 
stood, are Mr. Stephen J. Munger of Dallas, Texas, 
one of the Trustees, his wife, and Mrs. Frank B. 
Wilcox of St. Petersburg, Florida, in memory of 
her husband. 

Chautauquans of some years' standing will re- 
member the old croquet ground, where now stands 
the Colonnade, and the group of solemn gray- 
beards who used to frequent it and knock the balls 
through the big arches all day. No matter what 

popular lecturer was speaking in the Amphi- 
17 



258 THE STORY OF CHAUTAUQUA 

theater, the passer-by would find that same serious 
company. I used to pass them while going to my 
home and coming from it several times each day. 
On one occasion I stopped and struck up an ac- 
quaintance with a tall old gentleman who always 
wore a high hat and a long double-breasted coat. 
I learned that he was the President of a Bank 
among the mountains of Pennsylvania, and that 
he had come to Chautauqua suffering from nervous 
prostration, making him utterly unable to do 
business and scarcely desiring to live. He passed 
the croquet court, sat down, and was invited to 
play. He began and found himself, for the first 
time in many months, actually interested in doing 
something. He began to enjoy his meals and to 
sleep at night. All that summer he played 
croquet, never listening to a lecture, and at the 
end of the season went home almost well. From 
that time croquet became more than his recreation, 
almost his business. He told me that there were 
others like himself who found health and a new 
enjoyment of life in the game. When the ground 
was needed for the new business block, the courts 
were removed to the ravine on the other side of 
the grounds, near the gymnasium. About that 
time croquet was developed into a more scientific 
game, a sort of billiardized croquet, with walls 



CLUB LIFE AT CHAUTAUQUA 259 

from which a ball would rebound, and arches a 
quarter of an inch — or is it only an eighth of an 
inch? — wider than the ball. To find a name for 
the new game they struck off the first and last 
letters, so that croquet became Roque, and in due 
time the Roque Club arose, with a group of players 
who live and breathe and have their being for 
this game. People come from far, and I am told, 
to attend its tournaments at every season. 

There is also a Quoit Club meeting on the 
ground near Higgins Hall, beside the road leading 
up College Hill. 

The Young Woman's Club is for those over fif- 
teen years of age, while the Girl's Club has its 
membership between eight and fifteen, meets in 
its own Club House near the roque courts, and is 
enthusiastically sought by those no longer little 
girls, yet not quite young women. 

Wherever one walks around Chautauqua he is 
sure to see plenty of boys in blue sweaters bearing 
on their bosoms the monogram in big letters 
C. B. C, initials of the Chautauqua Boys' Club. 
They too have their headquarters near the athletic 
field and find something doing there all day long. 

For the little ones, there is the kindergarten at 
Kellogg Hall, and out of doors beside it the play- 
ground, where the tots make cities out of sand and 



26o THE STORY OF CHAUTAUQUA 

find other pleasures. And we must not forget 
the Children's Paradise, the completely equipped 
playground in the ravine at the northwestern part 
of the grounds. I remember hearing Jacob A. 
Riis, the father of the city playgrounds, say in one 
of his lectures: "They tell me that the boys play 
ball in the streets of New York and break windows 
when the ball goes out of the way. Good ! I hope 
they will break more windows until the city fixes 
up playgrounds for them ! " Jacob Riis lived long 
enough to see at Chautauqua one of the finest 
playgrounds, and to find in it one of the happiest 
crowds of children on the continent. One blessing 
for tired mothers at Chautauqua is that their 
children are in safekeeping. They may be turned 
loose, for they can't get outside the fence, and in 
the clubs and playgrounds they are under the 
wisest and most friendly care. 

There are Modern Language Clubs in French 
and Spanish, with conversations, recitations, and 
songs in these languages. "No English Spoken 
Here," might be written over their doors, although 
nearly all their members elsewhere do their talk- 
ing in the American patois. There was a German 
Club, but it was suspended during the war, when 
German was an unpopular language and has not 
yet been reestablished. 




Sherwood Memorial Studios 




Traction Station 



CLUB LIFE AT CHAUTAUQUA 261 

The Music Club holds gatherings, in the Sher- 
wood Music Studios on College Hill. 

There is a Press Club, composed of men and 
women who write books and articles for pub- 
lication. They hold social receptions for ac- 
quaintance among wielders of the quill; perhaps it 
would be more accurate, though less classic, .to 
say, "pounders of the typewriter." Several times 
each season they have an '* Author's Night," when 
well-known writers, some of them famous, read 
their own productions. 

There is a Lawyers' Club, a Masonic Club, and 
a Grange Club, the latter having its own building 
of Greek architecture; also a College Fraternity 
Club of the wearers of sundry pins and keys. 

The Bird and Tree Club has a large and repre- 
sentative membership of those interested in identi- 
fying and protecting the fauna, flora, and bird life 
of Chautauqua and its vicinity. On the Overlook, 
beyond the Athletic Field, they have established 
a herbarium for the preservation of the different 
forms of trees found on the ground. 

We must group together, begging pardon of the 
members, many other organizations, such as the 
W. C. T. U. All Americans know, some of them 
to their cost, what those four letters stand for; the 
Y. W. C. A., which has opened a Hospitality 



262 THE STORY OF CHAUTAUQUA 

House of Welcome and Rest on Pratt Avenue; 
the Daughters of the American Revolution, com- 
ing from every part of the land for gatherings at 
Chautauqua ; the Order of the Eastern Star, whose 
secrets none but the initiated know; the College 
Men's Club, the College Women's Club, the Minis- 
ters' Club, and there used to be, perhaps is still, 
an Octogenarians' Club, whose members must 
swear to eighty years of life. The King's Daugh- 
ters and King's Sons meet weekly at the Pier 
Buildings, and the Chautauqua Education Coun- 
cil, made up of Superintendents, principals and 
teachers, holds two regular sessions each week. 
If there are any more clubs, and their titles are 
sent to the author of this book, they will appear 
in the new edition, after the first hundred thou- 
sand copies are disposed of. 

But we are forgetting the title of this chapter 
and must name some of those who helped to make 
Chautauqua successful during the quadrennium 
between '92 and '96. In 1893 Henry Drummond 
repeated at Chautauqua his Lowell lectures in 
Boston on "The Ascent of Man." There were 
still some old-fashioned "kiver to kiver" be- 
lievers in the verbal inspiration of the Bible who 
were alarmed to find an eminent Christian leader 
accept so fully the conclusions of science; but the 



CLUB LIFE AT CHAUTAUQUA 263 

overwhelming sentiment of Chautauqua was of 
rejoicing at his harmonizing the most evangelical 
religion with the most advanced scholarship. Jane 
Addams gave some lectures on modern problems 
of family and social life; Edward Eggleston, long 
before a leader of the Sunday School Army, by 
turns preacher, story-writer (his Hoosier School- 
Master marked an epoch in American literature, 
say the critics) and historian, was with us once 
more after many years of absence. He said in an 
introduction, "I am glad to be again among Sun- 
day School workers, real crazy people, for I believe 
that nobody can be a first-class Sunday School 
man unless he has a little crack in his head on that 
subject." Frank G. Carpenter, who had traveled 
in almost every land of earth, told us stories of his 
experiences and observations; Kate Douglas Wig- 
gin read charmingly some of her own stories; 
Mr. John Temple Graves spoke in his fine rounded 
periods on some topics of the time; Hon. Roswell 
G. Horr of Michigan instructed while he enter- 
tained us. Dr. A. J. Palmer, who had thrilled the 
old soldiers with his "Company D," now gave 
another lecture to them on "Comrades." Be- 
sides these we heard on the platform Dr. Philip 
S. Moxom, Professor George H. Palmer of Har- 
vard, and his wife, Alice Freeman Palmer; Presi- 



264 THE STORY OF CHAUTAUQUA 

dent Harper, Dr. Von Hoist; Dr. Conwell, and 
Dr. Joseph Cook, returning to the platform with 
restored vigor after some years of nervous break- 
down. Miss Willard was with us again, and with 
her Lady Henry Somerset of England, the head of 
the W. C. T. U. in that land. 

In 1894 the Department of Elocution took a 
new title, "The School of Expression," and en- 
larged its sphere under Professor S. H. Clark of 
the University of Chicago, and Mrs. Emily M. 
Bishop. The program of the years shows the 
school of Political Science to be remarkably strong, 
with such teachers as Dr. Herman Von Hoist, 
Herbert B. Adams of Johns Hopkins, and another 
Dr. Adams of Yale. Professor Graham Taylor 
of Chicago spoke on social questions, capital and 
labor. Hon. Theodore Roosevelt, already rising 
to fame, was again on the platform. General 
James A. Beaver, ex-governor of Pennsylvania; 
Professor Richard G. Moulton; Hon. Carroll D. 
Wright, United States Commissioner of Labor; 
Mr. Anthony Comstock, and Dr. E. E. Hale, 
Chautauqua's strong friend, were some of the 
speakers. Dr. Hale, always original in his 
methods, said that he had only thirty minutes to 
speak on ' 'Poverty and Pauperism. ' ' He began by 
saying, **I will stand on one side of this desk and 



CLUB LIFE AT CHAUTAUQUA 265 

speak fifteen minutes on poverty." He showed 
in seven points that every one of us belonged to 
the class named "poverty'* and each one should 
help the others. Then he walked over to the other 
side and gave seven points on "pauperism,'* for 
which there were reasons but no excuses. Poverty 
was a blessing; most of the world's greatest bene- 
factors have been poor men; but pauperism is an 
unmitigated evil and should be stamped out of ex- 
istence. General O. O. Howard, U. S. A., was again 
on the platform in 1894, ^^so President William 
H. Crawford of Allegheny College, whose lecture 
on ' * Savonarola ' ' made a deep impression. There 
was great interest to see and hear Miss Helen 
Keller, the wonderful girl, blind, deaf, and dumb, 
who had learned to speak without hearing a voice, 
and had been graduated from Radcliffe College 
of Harvard University with the highest honor. 
Another of the lecturers was Mr. Jahu DeWitt 
Miller, whose private talk was as good as his public 
lectures, which is high praise. The Recognition 
Day address this year was by Dr. E. E. Hale, on 
"The Education of a Prince," the prince being the 
poorest child living in America. It is worth re- 
membering that a photograph of the procession 
on that day shows at the head of the flower-girl 
division — which now included boys, although the 



zee THE STORY OF CHAUTAUQUA 

girls were still in the majority — two mites of 
children, one Paul Vincent Harper, son of Presi- 
dent Harper, the other Isabel Vincent, the daugh- 
ter of Professor George E. Vincent. Those same 
children are now Mr. and Mrs. Paul Vincent 
Harper of Chicago, still walking together. 

In 1895, ^^^ season extended through fifty-nine 
days, from June 29th to August 26th. Two new 
buildings, besides many new cottages, were now 
upon the ground. One was the Baptist head- 
quarters on Clark Street, the other Higgins Hall 
on College Hill, built by the gift of Governor Hig- 
gins of New York State. In the Schools during 
this season strong emphasis was laid on the De- 
partment of English, with such instructors as 
Professor C. T. Winchester of Wesleyan, Professor 
A. S. Cook of Yale, Professor Sherman of the Uni- 
versity of Nebraska, and Professor Lewis of the 
University of Chicago. The last named gentle- 
man bore a striking resemblance to the portraits 
of Shakespeare; so that as he walked around 
(habitually without a hat on his head) everybody 
was struck with the likeness. I was told that when 
he sat down at Shakespeare's traditional school- 
desk in Stratford, a crowd gathered before the 
windows and the word was passed around * * Shake- 
speare has come to life again!" 



CLUB LIFE AT CHAUTAUQUA 267 

Other speakers in 1895 were Professor Richard 
G. Moulton, Dr. Josiah Strong, President G. 
Stanley Hall, Professor Francis G. Peabody of 
Harvard, Major J. B. Pond, Dr. John Henry 
Barrows, Dr. Edward Everett Hale, President 
Harper, Prof. John Fiske, Principal Fairbaim, and 
the distinguished General of the Confederate 
Army, John B. Gordon, Senator from Georgia. 
His lecture on "The Last Days of the Confed- 
eracy,*' was one of the great occasions of the season, 
and it was noteworthy that many veterans of the 
G. A. R. were among the loudest in their applause 
when their foe of thirty years before came upon 
the platform. Another event of the summer was 
the visit of Governor William McKinley of Ohio, 
a year before his nomination and election to the 
Presidency. During this season also we were 
entertained with readings by Professor S. H. 
Clark, Mr. Will M. Carleton, and Miss Ida 
Benfey. 

In the year 1895 another movement was begun 
at Chautauqua, which like the W. C. T. U. has 
swept over the entire continent and wrought 
mightily for the pubHc welfare. At a Kinder- 
garten Mothers* Meeting during the session, Mrs. 
Theodore W. Birney of Georgia, gave an address 
urging a National Congress of Mothers, and her 



268 THE STORY OF CHAUTAUQUA 

appeal awakened a prompt response. Many of 
those who had listened to her carried her message 
to their own home-towns; Mrs. Birney at women's 
clubs and gatherings gave her plea over and over; 
and when the General Federation of Women's 
clubs held its convention in her native State of 
Georgia she presented the proposition to the mem- 
bers. From that convention in 1896, a call was 
issued for a National Congress of Mothers, to be 
held in the National Capital. Mrs. Birney gave 
a year of tireless and wise preparation for the meet- 
ing, which began on February 17, 1897. She was 
called to be President of the National Congress, with 
Miss Mary Louisa Butler as Organizing Secretary. 
The work was aided by the wide-reaching influence 
and liberal gifts of Mrs. Phebe A. Hearst, who has 
been rightly called the Lady Bountiful of the 
movement. Out of this National Congress grew 
the holding of State-congresses in every part of 
the country and the organization of local branches 
in almost every city. The Congress of Mothers 
now has its central office in Washington, D. C. It 
is divided into twenty-five departments of work — 
such as Americanization, Child Hygiene, Child 
Labor, Education, Mothers' Circles, Thrift, and 
many others, each having its chairman and plan 
of effective work. Out of a meeting at Chautau- 



CLUB LIFE AT CHAUTAUQUA 269 

qua, in 1895, has grown a nation-wide movement 
in aid of mothers and teachers. 

In 1896 the schools were again reorganized 
under Dr. Harper*s supervision. The School of 
Fine Arts and the New York Summer Institute 
for Teachers were new departments, the latter 
under the direction of the Regents of the New York 
State University. The School of Sacred Literature 
was increased in its faculty, having among them 
President Harper, Professor Shailer Mathews, and 
Professor D. A. McClenahan of the United Presby- 
terian Theological School. Prominent among the 
lecturers this year were Dr. George Adam Smith 
of Scotland, Dr. Gunsaulus, Rev. S. Parkes Cad- 
man, Dr. Booker T. Washington, Rev. Dr. 
George A. Gordon, Dr. Charles F. Aked, then of 
England, but soon to become an American, Pro- 
fessor F. G. Peabody, Dr. Nicholas Murray Butler, 
soon afterward the President of Columbia Uni- 
versity, and Dr. Russell H. Conwell. A lady ap- 
peared on the platform whose experience had 
been unlike that of any other woman in the land. 
This was Mrs. Robert E. Peary, who accompanied 
her husband on one of his North Pole explorations 
and had a daughter bom within the polar circle — 
**The snow baby,'* as she was called. She gave a 
lecture with stereopticon views descriptive of the 



270 THE STORY OF CHAUTAUQUA 

life in the frozen North. Another woman gave a 
lecture this year upon her travels in Equatorial 
Africa, Miss Jessie T. Ackerman. President 
Charles W. Eliot of Harvard University gave the 
oration on Recognition Day, his subject being 
"America's Contribution to Civilization." .In 
looking through the list of the speakers on Recogni- 
tion Day, I find the names of no less than ten 
college presidents, and also that of the Hon. Wil- 
liam T. Harris, United States Commissioner of 
Education, who might be regarded as standing at 
the head of the nation's educational system. The 
value of Chautauqua as a force in education has 
been fully recognized by the highest authorities. 




Arts and Crafts Building 




Miller Bell Tower 



CHAPTER XVIII 

ROUNDING OUT THE OLD CENTURY 
(1897-I9OO) 

The Chautauqua session of 1897 was fifty-nine 
days long, from June 26th to August 23rd. This 
year the School of Domestic Science, directed by 
Mrs. Emma P. Ewing, attracted attention. Al- 
most as many ladies whose cookery was accom- 
plished by servants, as those who broiled their 
own steaks and baked their own puddings, met in 
Mrs. Swing's model kitchen, learning to make 
bread, to prepare appetizing sauces and dressings, 
and to learn how to serve tables with refinement. 
I remember hearing one lady remark that until 
she had received Mrs. Ewing's instruction she had 
never really known how to make good bread. 

Among those who gave lectures in 1897, we find 
the names of Anna Howard Shaw, BalHngton and 
Maud Booth, Bishop (better known as Chaplain) 
McCabe; quite a list of college presidents— 
Goucher of Baltimore, Hyde of Bowdoin, Harper of 
Chicago, John Finley of New York, and G. Stanley 

271 



272 THE STORY OF CHAUTAUQUA 

Hall of Clark; also Professor Graham Taylor, Mr. 
Percy Alden of England, and Mr. Jacob Riis. A 
new reader of noble presence, rich voice, and rare 
dramatic power, recited on the platform of the 
Amphitheater and assisted in the School of Ex- 
pression — Mrs. Bertha Kunz Baker, who was to 
entertain us through many years. Professor 
Clark gave readings; Mr. George W. Cable ren- 
dered a number of his own stories; Mrs. Jessie 
Eldridge Southwick and Miss Katherine Oliver 
also gave recitals. 

After Dr. Vincent's election as Bishop in 1888, 
he found it increasingly difficult to supervise the 
ever-increasing work of Chautauqua. Often dur- 
ing the Assembly season he would be compelled to 
hold conferences in the far west, and one year in 
South America. In 1896, his episcopal residence 
was changed from Buffalo to Topeka, Kansas, and 
in 1900 he was removed to Zurich, Switzerland, to 
take charge of Methodist missions in Europe. 
More and more he delegated the care of Chau- 
tauqua to his son, who, one of the most popular 
of lecturers, was supreme in his ability as ad- 
ministrator. In 1898 Professor George E. Vincent 
was formally appointed Principal of Instruction, 
and very soon every department of Chautauqua, 
both in its lecture platform and its educational 



ROUNDING OUT THE OLD CENTURY 273 

work, felt the touch of a master hand. Some of us 
oldsters who had loved Chautauqua from its earli- 
est years, had felt anxious for its future as we saw 
one of its Founders called aside into other fields, 
and the other failing in strength, although we 
knew not how near was his earthly end. But we 
all had a sense of relief and confidence that the 
future of Chautauqua was assured when we found 
** George" taking his father*s place as executive in 
the Department of Instruction. The Bishop 
retained the title of Chancellor, however, as long 
as he lived. 

In 1898 a new building was erected on College 
Hill— The Hall of Pedagogy. The report of the 
season's work showed that attendance had in- 
creased in the schools twenty-five per cent, over 
the last year, the advance being distributed quite 
evenly among the departments. By this time 
nearly all the universities and many of the col- 
leges were, holding summer schools, yet Chautau- 
qua, first in the field, was still leading in its mem- 
bership. This year Chautauqua received a visit 
from Lord Aberdeen, the Governor-General of the 
Dominion of Canada, and his wife, the Countess. 
Americans are apt to look for a freezing dignity 
on the part of the higher nobility, and some were 

a little surprised to find the Governor-General 
18 



274 THE STORY OP CHAUTAUQUA 

and his Lady unreservedly approachable, and 
unaffectedly democratic in manner. 

Some of those who gave lectures in 1898 were 
Dr. Richard T. Ely of the University of Wisconsin, 
President Thirkield of Atlanta, afterward Bishop, 
Dr. Moulton, Miss Jane Addams, Hon. Murat 
Halstead, General John B. Eaton, Mr. Leon H. 
Vincent, Bishop Daniel A. Goodsell, Dr. J. H. 
Barrows, President of Oberlin, President Faunce 
of Brown, Dr. Robert Mclntyre, also to become a 
Bishop in due time. Dr. Charles E. Jefferson of 
New York, Dr. Amory H. Bradford of Mont- 
clair, N. J., and Mr. John Kendrick Bangs. Mr. 
Leland Powers was with us on his biennial visit, 
and recitals were also rendered by Mr. C. F. Under- 
bill, Mr. John Fox, Miss Isabel Garghill, Mr. 
Will Carleton, and Miss Ida Benfey. Up to that 
date, the season of 1898 was one of the most suc- 
cessful in Chautauqua history. 

At this time, the Chautauquan Magazine, the 
organ of the C. L. S. C, and the Daily Assembly 
Herald, were taken over by the trustees, and the 
Chautauqua Press was established as the pub- 
lishing agency for the periodicals and books of 
the C. L. S. C. Mr. Frank Chapin Bray was 
appointed Editor. By birth and education he was 
a thorough Chautauquan, having, as it were, 



ROUNDING OUT THE OLD CENTURY 275 

grown up on the ground from early childhood and 
gone through all the courses from the Children's 
Class to the C. L. S. C. As a small boy he had 
sold the Assembly Herald; as a young man had 
written for its columns, and he is not the only 
journalist who took these steps upward to a 
literary career. 

The season of 1899 opened with a cloud hanging 
over Chautauqua, bringing sorrow to one family 
and deepest sympathy from many. 

On February 17, 1899, Lewis Miller died in a 
hospital in New York where he had been taken to 
undergo an operation from which he failed to 
rally. He was seventy years of age and had given 
his whole heart and the best of his life to Chautau- 
qua. But for Lewis Miller there would have been 
no Chautauqua, though there might have been an 
Assembly under some other name. He had chosen 
the place, had urged the location, and in its incep- 
tion had aided in its plans, had supervised its 
business interests, and had contributed generously 
to its needs. At the opening of the "Old First 
Night" service in August, 1899, the white lilies 
bloomed in his honor, but instead of being waved, 
were held in solemn stillness for a full minute, 
and then slowly lowered, and this memorial has 
been observed on every "Old First Night" since. 



276 THE STORY OF CHAUTAUQUA 

The names of Lewis Miller and John H. Vincent 
stand together in equal honor as the two Founders 
of Chautauqua. Next to these Founders we re- 
member on "Old First Night" two of the Vice- 
Presidents of the Board of Trustees, the late 
Francis H. Root of Buffalo, and Clem. Stude- 
baker of South Bend, Indiana, both wise 
counsellors and generous givers to Chautauqua. 

During the session of 1899, Theodore Roosevelt 
was for the third time the guest of Chautauqua. 
The war with Spain had come and gone; he had 
been Colonel of the Rough Riders, and was now 
Governor of New York. One of those Rough 
Riders was young Theodore Miller, the son of the 
Founder of Chautauqua, and the only Yale student 
to lay down his life in that campaign. His memory 
is preserved by the Miller Gate on the University 
campus. Another Governor was with us that 
summer, Robert L. Taylor of Tennessee. The 
two brothers Taylor were the heads respectively 
of the two political parties in their State, were 
candidates opposed to each other, stumped the 
State together, slept together every night, played 
the violin together at their meetings, and then 
after the concert, made their speeches against one 
another. The writer of these pages may claim a 
humble part in their careers, for both of them as 



ROUNDING OUT THE OLD CENTURY 277 

boys, and also an older brother, were students 
under his teaching in 1864 and '65 in Pennington 
Seminary, New Jersey. We could tell some 
stories about those three Taylor boys, but we re- 
frain. I think that the Republican Taylor, Alfred, 
is even now (1920) the Governor of Tennessee, as 
his brother was its Democratic Governor in 1899. 
Another visitor of about this date, though we 
are not certain of the precise year, was Mr. 
Horace Fletcher, whose name is in the dictionary 
in the word ''Fletcherize," which means to count 
the chewing of each mouthful thirty times before 
swallowing it. We have tried some steaks in the 
early Chautauquan days when fifty chews would 
hardly make an impression. He spoke on the 
platform, and the few who could hear him said 
that his talk was not about dietetics, but foreign 
politics, though the two words are somewhat alike 
and they may have misunderstood him. His fif- 
tieth birthday came while he was at Chautauqua, 
and he celebrated it by doing some amazing stunts, 
double somersaults, etc., into the lake at the diving 
place. I sat at the table next to his at the Athe- 
naeum and noticed that he ate very slowly, but I 
could not count the chews on each mouthful. A 
lady at the same table told me that Mr. Fletcher 
eschewed coffee but put seven lumps of sugar in 



278 THE STORY OF CHAUTAUQUA 

his tea, calmly observing that his "system needed 
sugar." I know some young people who have the 
same opinion concerning their own systems, if one 
may judge by the fate of a box of chocolates in 
their hands. 

In this year the School of Religious Teaching 
was reorganized, the Department of Sacred Litera- 
ture being conducted by Chancellor Wallace of 
Toronto, and that of Religious Pedagogy, by Dr. 
J. R. Street. We may as well insert here the fact 
that for many years before, and during the seasons 
since that year, Sunday School lessons were taught 
in the morning and a lecture given at the Park of 
Palestine in the afternoon by the author of this 
volume. The plan with the lessons has been to 
give every morning a preview of a coming Sunday 
School topic, so that by the close of the season all 
the lessons for six months to come have been 
taught, and at Palestine Park to treat the geogra- 
phy of the land historically in a series of lectures. 
Also, it should be remembered that every Sunday 
of the Chautauqua season, from the first year, a 
Sunday School has been held in the morning, for 
all ages from youngest to oldest, the grades being 
taught in different places on the grounds by 
specialists in their several departments. For 
some years, if one strayed on Sunday morning 



ROUNDING OUT THE OLD CENTURY 279 

over Palestine Park, he might find a class of boys 
seated on the hills around Nazareth listening to a 
lesson on the boyhood of Jesus, and a group of 
girls looking down on the Sea of Galilee, while a 
teacher was telling stories of the tempest stilled 
and the five thousand fed. 

Prominent upon the lecture platform in 1899 
were Prof. C. T. Winchester, Dr. Charles E. Jef- 
ferson, Prof. John Fiske, Prof. A. B. Hart, Bishop 
C. B. Galloway of the Methodist Episcopal 
Church, South, President Faunce, Dr. George 
Adam Smith, Dr. E. E. Hale, and Governor 
G. W. Atkinson of West Virginia. Mr. John 
Kendrick Bangs was also on the platform with 
readings. 

The year 1900 rounded out a century, and one of 
its outstanding events at Chautauqua was a 
course of lectures by Principal Fairbairn of Oxford 
on "The Nineteenth Century.'* He asserted that 
in the ages to come, this hundred years will be 
looked upon as perhaps the greatest of all the cen- 
turies in the world's progress made during that 
period. He spoke in turn upon the historical, the 
political, the inventive, the literary, the religious, 
and the philosophic progress, giving without a 
written reminder names, dates, facts, processes of 
thought in the widest range. Many regarded it 



28o THE STORY OF CHAUTAUQUA 

as one of the ablest and most enlightening series of 
addresses that they had ever heard. 

Among the new faces on the platform we saw 
Dr. Lincoln Hulley, the new President of the 
John B. Stetson University of Florida, an exceed- 
ingly interesting speaker and a charming person- 
ality. We heard also Mr. Edward Howard Griggs 
in a series of lectures in the Amphitheater, and an 
appreciative class also met him in the school. From 
1900 until the present, Mr. Griggs has given us 
biennial courses, and on "Old First Night" his tall 
form rises and sits down as the record is made up 
for every alternate year. No lecturer on thought- 
ful subjects has more engagements or brings to- 
gether larger audiences than Mr. Griggs. Dean 
Charles D. Williams of Trinity Cathedral, and in a 
few years Bishop (Protestant Episcopal) of Detroit, 
an independent thinker and powerful preacher, 
welcomed both on the platform and in the pulpit 
many times since that appearance, his first among 
us. I think also that Professor Bliss Perry of 
Harvard spoke for the first time this season, also 
President Benjamin Ide Wheeler. Others who 
came as old friends were Prof. Moses Coit Tyler, 
President Henry Churchill King, Dr. Graham 
Taylor, Dr. Cadman, Mr. Edward Howard Griggs, 
Mrs. Carrie Chapman Catt, Miss Susan B. An- 




<§• 



o 



ROUNDING OUT THE OLD CENTURY 281 

thony, and Miss Jane Addams. I must not forget 
that this summer Mr. Francis Wilson was with us 
again, and gave a lecture upon Eugene Field and 
his poetry, an appreciation inspired by friendship 
as well as literary insight. On a former visit to 
Chautauqua Francis Wilson not only joined the 
C. L. S. C, but formed a reading circle in his 
dramatic company, directing their studies and 
holding their literary meetings in railroad stations, 
in hotel parlors, and in the green rooms of theaters, 
wherever they chanced to be when the meeting 
day arrived. 

On August 7, 1900, the corner stone of the Hall 
of Christ, "Aula Christi,'* was laid. The address 
on that occasion was given by Bishop James M. 
Thoburn of India. Bishop Vincent was now living 
overseas in Zurich, Switzerland, and could not be 
present. The stone was laid by Principal George 
E. Vincent and a telegram from his father was 
read. This Hall was one of the creations of 
Bishop Vincent's poetic mind. He aimed to make 
it a building not large, but beautiful, a sort of 
shrine, a chapel for meditation and prayer, a 
place of quiet, spiritual fellowship, not of class 
teaching, but of thoughtful addresses on themes 
directly relating to our Lord. Bishop Vincent 
did not possess the genius for raising large sums of 



282 THE STORY OF CHAUTAUQUA 

money for his conceptions ; he shrank from pressing 
them upon rich men. Another projector would 
have ventured boldly, demanded contributions 
and obtained them, to build the Hall at once ; but 
Dr. Vincent was delicate in speaking of it, though 
all knew his ardent desires for this ideal. The 
building grew slowly as gifts were received. Begun 
in 1899, it was not dedicated until 191 2. Although 
no thought of his own honor in this building was 
in the Founder's mind, yet to many it stands as 
his monument at Chautauqua. Most appropri- 
ately it is used as the center for the Department of 
Religious Work, and daily lectures are given within 
its walls on Biblical themes. 

As Dr. George Vincent was now an associate 
professor in the University of Chicago, it became 
necessary for him to have some assistance in the 
management of the Chautauqua program and 
platform. Mr. Scott Brown was this year ap- 
pointed General Director and Vice-Principal of 
Instruction. ~ 



CHAPTER XIX 

OPENING THE NEW CENTURY 
(19OI-I9O4) 

The season of 1901 was the longest of any 
thus far, sixty days, from July ist to August 29th. 
In the schools Manual Training was introduced 
under the direction of Mr. Henry J. Baker, also 
a school of Library Training under the general 
guidance of Mr. Melvil Dewey, at that time New 
York State Librarian, and soon after made one of 
the Chautauqua trustees. The resident director 
of this school was at first Miss Mary E. Hazeltine 
of Jamestown ; later, and up to the present time, 
Miss Mary E. Downey, of the Utah State Library. 
The growth of public libraries throughout the 
country has made this school very popular among 
young women seeking the profession of librarian. 

Some voices new to Chautauqua were heard 

from the Amphitheater platform in 1901, such as 

Dr. O. P. Gifford of the Baptist Church, Captain 

Richmond Pearson Hobson, Mrs. L. Ormiston 

Chant of England, a descendant of the great 

283 



284 THE STORY OF CHAUTAUQUA 

Edmund Burke, we were informed, and the Gov- 
ernor of New York, Hon. Benjamin B. Odell. Mr. 
Joseph Jefferson, whom all the world of that gener- 
ation knew as "Rip Van Winkle," gave a lecture 
showing the relations of the lecture platform and 
the stage. Rev. John McNeill, whose speech 
showed that he came from the north of the Tweed 
preached a powerful and searching sermon. Dr. 
Robert Stuart McArthur gave a lecture on 
"Mountain Peaks in Russian History." Dr. 
Hale, President Crawford, Mr. Leland Powers, 
Dr. S. H. Clark, Dr. Moulton, and Mr. George W. 
Bain were among the old Chautauqua favorites of 
that season. As the C. L. S. C. Class of 1900 had 
taken the name "The Nineteenth Century Class," 
the one graduating this year was entitled "The 
Twentieth Century Class." The speaker on 
Recognition Day was Chancellor E. Benjamin 
Andrews of the University of Nebraska, on the 
subject, "Problems of Greater America." 

The season of 1902 was noteworthy from a visit 
of Bishop Vincent. It seems strange to read of a 
visit from the Founder of Chautauqua, but he was 
at that time living in Zurich, Switzerland, holding 
Methodist conferences all over Europe, in many 
languages through interpreters, and for several 
years had been absent from Chautauqua. We of 



OPENING THE NEW CENTURY 285 

the older generation always missed his presence, 
but to the younger troop of Chautauquans his was 
only a revered name. The Vincent whom they 
knew, and packed the Amphitheater to hear, was 
the Director George E. Vincent, the man at the 
wheel of Chautauqua. This year the announce- 
ment was made that the Chancellor was coming, 
and a royal welcome was prepared. A printed 
account of this event reads as follows : 

Arriving at Lakewood, the Bishop was met by mem^ 
bers of his family, and the Board of Trustees. After 
the welcome greetings, the party took a special steamer 
for Chautauqua. At the Pier a fleet of craft of 
all descriptions — launches, sail-boats, and row-boats 
— awaited the arrival of the Bishop's steamer. As 
soon as it came within hailing distance, the larger 
/boats dipped colors and all the people waved hand- 
kerchiefs, the chimes at the Point rang in a familiar 
tune, and as the steamer headed toward the Pier, the 
Chautauqua choir, gathered in the balcony, sang the 
old Chautauqua song, "Join, O friends, in a memory 
song." 

As the boat came to the wharf, the bank and the 
Park of Palestine were a mass of waving handker- 
chiefs. The Reception Committee, composed of offi- 
cials of the Institution, stood on the Pier, and back 
of them an immense throng all eager to catch a glimpse 
of their beloved leader. Lines were formed on either 
side of the walk, and as the Bishop passed between 
them he was greeted with the salute of the white 



286 THE STORY OF CHAUTAUQUA 

handkerchiefs. In Miller Park were gathered the 
cottage owners, the Summer Schools, and the C. L. S. 
C. classes, with their banners and emblems, and the 
various clubs and children's classes. On the way to his 
cottage on Lake Avenue, the Bishop was escorted by 
about two hundred and fifty members of the Boys' 
and Girls' Clubs, whose sweet voices rang out clear 
and full in "Auld Lang Syne." From the veranda 
of his tent cottage, the Bishop made an eloquent ad- 
dress of appreciation, full of the joy of home-coming. 

In 1904, Bishop Vincent was placed on the re- 
tired list, to dwell where he chose, free from episco- 
pal service. From that year until 191 8, he passed 
a portion of each summer at Chautauqua and took 
part in the program, but without the responsi- 
bility of supervision. Most of the time he was 
happy in his release, but there would come occa- 
sional hours when he longed to hold the reins once 
more. 

In this year, 1902, a new charter was received 
from the Legislature of New York, giving a new 
title, "Chautauqua Institution." The Girls* 
Club and the Unitarian House were built this 
season, also the Disciples' Headquarters on Clark 
Avenue received its pillared portico. The Luth- 
eran House was established during this season. 

Senator Mark Hanna of Ohio, who was looked 
upon as "the power behind the throne" during 



OPENING THE NEW CENTURY 287 

the presidency of his friend, William McKinley, 
spoke at Chautauqua in 1902, also Mrs. Penny- 
backer of Texas, Dr. A. E. Dunning of Boston, 
editor of the Congregationalist, General John C. 
Black of Pennsylvania, Dr. Earl Barnes, Prof. 
Charles Zeublin, Dr. W. F. Oldham of India, after- 
ward a Bishop, and the ever- welcome Frank 
Beard who had been absent for a number of years. 

Chautauqua has always believed in the open 
and free discussion of vexed questions, and this year 
from August 4th to August 8th was held a most 
interesting conference on **The Labor Movement." 
The introductory address opening the subject was 
given by the Hon. Carroll D. Wright, U. S. Com- 
missioner of Labor. Supplementary lectures, fol- 
lowed by discussion, were by President Harper on 
*'The University and Industrial Education"; 
Mr. Frank P. Sargent, "Growth and Influence of 
Labor Organizations"; Mr. John Mitchell, "The 
Joint Conference between Employer and Em- 
ployee." On both sides there was the frankest 
expression of opinion. I remember that when one 
speaker was asked whether he was an actual 
worker or a professional agitator, without a word 
he held out his hands that all might see they were 
the hands of a workingman. 

This year was notable in the Department of 



288 THE STORY OF CHAUTAUQUA 

Music, by the entrance of Mr. Alfred Hallam as 
Director. His whole-hearted, absolutely self -for- 
getting labor, and his reach after the highest 
standards in his art, from 1902 to 1919, made Mr. 
Hallam dear not only to his choir, but to all 
Chautauquans. 

The year 1903 was the twenty-fifth anniversary 
of the founding of the C. L. S. C. in 1878. That 
event in popular education was commemorated by 
a great meeting in the Amphitheater and the laying 
of the comer stone of a new Hall of Philosophy 
on the site of the old hall, which, being a wooden 
building, was decaying. The Class of 1882 planted 
some ivy brought from the Palatine Hill in Rome, 
other classes planted oak and pine trees. A 
sealed box, containing portraits of the Founders 
and copies of Chautauqua publications, was placed 
in the comer stone, which was then lowered into 
place and made secure with mortar, the trowel 
being handled in tum by Dr. George Vincent and 
Director Scott Brown. As the stone was put in 
place, a cablegram was read from Bishop Vincent 
at Helsingfors, Finland — *' Remember the founda- 
tion is Christ. ' * Vincent. 

This year, 1903, the Arts and Crafts shops, 
which had been in various places over the ground, 
were brought together by the director, Henry 



OPENING THE NEW CENTURY 289 

Turner Bailey, making the Arts and Crafts Vil- 
lage, in later years to become the Arts and Crafts 
Building. The Grange Building on Simpson 
Avenue was erected and presented as headquarters 
for that order by Mr. Cyrus W. Jones of James- 
town. This year, 1903, Dean Percy H. Boynton 
of the University of Chicago was made Secretary 
of Instruction, and placed in full charge of the 
Summer Schools, which by this time had grown to 
more than two thousand students. A few years 
later he received the title of Principal and gave to 
the summer schools his unremitting attention 
until 191 7. To Dean Boynton's careful choice 
of instructors and watchfulness over details of 
management during those years the growth and 
success of the schools is largely due. 

The Liquor Problem was the subject of the Con- 
ference on August 3-8, 1903. I find on the list of 
speakers and their subjects eight names to which 
might be added five times as many who partici- 
pated in the discussions. Commander Frederick 
Booth-Tucker and his wife Emma Booth-Tucker, 
told of ''The Salvation Army and the Liquor 
Problem." Mr. Raymond Robins, an eminent 
social worker of Chicago, spoke on "The Saloon 
and the World of Graft, Vagrancy, and Municipal 

Correction," although it may have been *'munici- 
19 



290 THE STORY OF CHAUTAUQUA 

pal corruption," for I think he spoke on both sub- 
jects. Mrs. Lillian M.N. Stevens, told of the work 
of the W. C. T. U. ; Prof. I. P. Bishop showed "The 
Physiological Effects of Alcohol,'* Prof. Frederick 
Starr, the anthropologist, gave an interesting ac- 
count of ** Stimulants among Primitive Peoples." 
Other speakers were Rev. E. C. Dinwiddie, Mr. 
Frederick H. Wines, and Mrs. John G. Woolley. 

Another Conference was held August loth to 
15th on *'The Mob," and attracted the deepest 
interest. President William G. Frost of Berea 
College, Kentucky, told of "The Mountain 
Feuds " ; Mr. John Temple Graves spoke in defense 
of lynching, and declared that the only solution of 
the negro problem in the south would be the en- 
forced deportation of the negro back to Africa; 
but other Southerners present did not agree with 
him. Dean Richmond Babbitt gave "A Study 
of the Lynch Law"; Mr. D. M. Parry spoke on 
"The Mob Spirit in Organized Labor"; Mr. 
Thomas Kidd on "The Labor Unions and the 
Mob Spirit." Chief Justice Charles B. Lore of 
Delaware and Judge John Woodward gave "The 
Legal Aspects of the Mob Spirit." No discussion 
at Chautauqua awakened such feeling, although 
it was carried on with perfect courtesy by speakers 
on the opposing sides. 




2 



u 

a 

u 
o 
O 



OPENING THE NEW CENTURY 291 

We can name only a few of the many lecturers 
in the regular program of 1903. One was Gov- 
ernor Robert M. La Follette of Wisconsin, soon to 
attract attention as an insurgent in the United 
States Senate. Another was Mr. George Willis 
Cooke, on social subjects. Mr. Hamlin Garland, 
the story-writer, gave a lecture, also General John 
B. Gordon of Georgia, Dr. Richard Burton, a 
course in literature; Hon. Wm. T. Harris, Dr. 
Moulton, and the Rev. R. J. Campbell of London. 
The platform during the season was fairly crowded, 
the speakers and concerts following in such close 
succession. 

In 1904, Bishop Vincent having been relieved 
from the cares of the Episcopacy, went to live for a 
time in Indianapolis. He was now able to come 
with more or less regularity to Chautauqua, and 
gave the opening address of the season. The ex- 
ercises of that year extended through sixty days 
beginning June 30th and ending August 28th. 
We note that the School of English included in its 
staff Prof. Richard G. Moulton and Edward 
Howard Griggs. The work in Nature Study was 
enlarged to include courses in Botany and Physi- 
ography. The courses for teachers embraced 
systematic work in all the grades from the kinder- 
garten to the college. This year the new electric 



292 THE STORY OP CHAUTAUQUA 

railway was opened from Jamestown to Chautau- 
qua and thence to Ma3rville and Westfield on Lake 
Erie. Bishop Vincent was a passenger on the first 
car over the line. This improved means of trans- 
portation enabled people to come by rail every 
hour to Chautauqua, gave direct and speedy con- 
nection with the New York Central Railroad, and 
resulted in making the principal entrance to the 
grounds no longer by water but by land. Hence 
the crowds forsook the stores in the Pier Building 
and the Arcade, and a new business center grew 
up on the hill. 

This year the new Hall of Philosophy was 
opened, of the same general plan as the old build- 
ing, but with floor and pillars of concrete, a more 
durable material. The building was also some- 
what larger than its predecessor and was in every 
way more convenient. In the concrete floor are 
inserted tablets in honor of the classes that con- 
tributed toward the building. The pillars also 
bear the names of their givers. The list of exer- 
cises in the Hall during any Assembly season would 
of itself make a long catalogue. 

The Devotional Hour had now become a sys- 
tematic order and called together large congrega- 
tions. It was not altogether the fame of the great 
preachers, but also the strong religious atmosphere 



OPENING THE NEW CENTURY 293 

of the place that gathered every day at ten o'clock 
for five mornings of each week a thousand people 
for worship. How many churches could show a 
congregation as large, not only on Sundays, when 
the service was attended by five thousand people, 
but through the days of the week? Among the 
chaplains of this season, each serving a week, were 
Dr. S. Parkes Cadman, Dr. Hugh Black, Bishop 
Oldham, Dr. Daniel Dorchester of Pittsburgh, 
and the evangelist, Dr. J. Wilbur Chapman. 

The Conference of 1904 was from July 24th to 
29th on the subject of Missions, Home and 
Foreign. Among the speakers were Dr. Francis 
E. Clark of the Christian Endeavor movement, 
recently returned from an all-around the world visit 
to missions abroad. Dr. Frederick G. Stanley, 
Dr. George M. Boynton,- Dr. Homer Stuntz from 
the Philippines — afterward a Bishop of the Method- 
ist Episcopal Church — Bishop Oldham, and Mr. 
J. L. Joslin of India. 

I remember hearing Dr. Stuntz tell of a native 
FiHpino who came to him soon after the American 
occupation of Manila, and after carefully closing 
the door, and looking in closets to be sure that no 
one was in hearing, carefully unrolled a package, 
showed a small Bible in the Spanish language, and 
asked: "Would it be safe for me to be found read- 



294 THE STORY OF CHAUTAUQUA 

ing this book? I have kept it hidden for years, 
for my life would have been the penalty if it had 
been seen." Dr. Stuntz led him to a window, 
pointed to the American flag flying over the castle, 
and said: "Do you see that flag? As long as that 
flag flutters over these islands, you can stand in 
the market place and read in as loud a voice as you 
choose out of this book and you will be safe. 
Wherever that flag flies, the Bible is an open 
book!'* 

Most of the men whom we have named gave lec- 
tures, as well as participating in the conferences. 
Besides these, we saw on the platform the massive 
form of William Howard Taft, then Secretary of 
War, after a few years to be President of the 
United States; Mr. Griggs also gave a course of 
lectures and taught classes in literature, and Prof. 
Frederick Starr was one of the speakers. Dr. 
George Adam Smith of Scotland was alsD with us 
during the season of 1904. 

Some of the recitations this year were by Dr. 
S. H. Clark, Mrs. Bertha Kunz Baker, Mrs. 
Emily M. Bishop, Miss Marie L. Shedlock, and 
Prof. Henry L. Southwick. 



CHAPTER XX 

PRESIDENT ROOSEVELT AT CHAUTAUQUA 
(1905-I908) 

The notable event in the Assembly of 1905 was 
the fourth visit of Theodore Roosevelt. He was 
the President of the United States, not now by 
succession, but by direct vote of the people, for his 
first term, after the death of Mr. McEIinley, had 
been completed. He had promised to maintain 
his predecessor's policies during the period for 
which Mr. McEjnley had been elected, and 
through that term he had initiated no new move- 
ments. But his pledge having been kept and his 
administration ratified by the popular vote, Mr. 
Roosevelt was now free to bring forward his own 
plans. His address at Chautauqua on August 
nth, five months after his inauguration, was the 
first pubHc announcement of his principles and 
policies, and in its boldness, its candor, and its 
originality was fairly startling. Mr. McKinley 
was a cordial, but a reticent party leader. Every- 
one who talked with him was charmed, but no one 

295 



296 THE STORY OF CHAUTAUQUA 

could recall any definite promise or statement that 
he had made. Mr. Roosevelt was absolutely, 
unreservedly open ; he would state to anybody his 
opinion on every public question. Lyman Abbott 
once said, **Mr. McKinley and Mr. Roosevelt 
were both great men and great statesmen, but 
between the absolute reticence of the one and the 
absolutely openness of the other, there is no half- 
way house." 

The presidential party included his son Kermit, 
his nephew Paul Roosevelt, his cousin Philip 
Roosevelt, Mr. Jacob A. Riis, and a number of 
leading politicians, besides secret service men, and 
the inevitable troop of newspaper reporters. They 
were met at Lakewood by Bishop Vincent, his son 
the Principal, and representatives of the Chautau- 
qua Board. A breakfast was served to the party 
and to some invited guests in Higgins Hall. I sat 
beside a prominent politician who said to me that 
on the train and boat he was absolutely amazed 
at the knowledge of President Roosevelt upon 
every subject, and his readiness to state his views 
upon even the deepest matters of State. At the 
table I noticed Dr. James M. Buckley sitting be- 
side the President and in earnest conversation 
with him. As we passed out of the Hall, I men- 
tioned to Dr. Buckley what the public man had 



ROOSEVELT AT CHAUTAUQUA 297 

told me of Mr. Roosevelt's outspoken candor, and 
Dr. Buckley said that the President had answered 
every question in utter frankness, evidently hav- 
ing nothing to conceal; and Dr. Buckley could 
ask searching questions. 

The adage , " It sometimes rains at Chautauqua, ' ' 
was verified that day by a steady downpour, which 
with the umbrellas lifted over the moving proces- 
sion made every avenue, seen from an upper bal- 
cony, look like an endless serpent with a series of 
bulging black knobs on his back. No words can 
express the jam of people in and around the Amphi- 
theater and the breathless interest with which all 
listened to the President's address, which came 
like a revelation, with its outspoken utterances 
upon subjects hitherto held as State secrets. He 
talked of our relations with nations abroad, and of 
problems at home, the trusts, questions of capital 
and labor, and, indeed, every subject under dis- 
cussion at that time. A statesman once said, 
** Language was invented to conceal thought," but 
that was certainly not the use of language by one 
eminent American. As Mr. Roosevelt was leav- 
ing the Amphitheater, he saw the Boys' Club 
standing together, on guard, and he gave them a 
short, appreciative, practical speech. 

Some of the speakers at the Assembly of 1905 



298 THE STORY OF CHAUTAUQUA 

were District Attorney William Travers Jerome of 
New York, Governor Joseph W. Folk of Missotiri, 
the Hon. Robert Watchorn, Commissioner of Im- 
migration, President Charles Cuthbert Hall of 
the Union Theological Seminary of New York, 
recently home from giving addresses in India and 
China under the auspices of the Parliament of 
Religion, President Rush Rhees of the University 
of Rochester, President Herbert Welch of Ohio 
Wesleyan, Dean Charles D. Williams — on his 
next visit to be a Bishop — and Dr. Richard Bur- 
ton. Mrs. Bertha Kunz Baker, Dr. S. H. Clark, 
Mr. Leland Powers, and others entertained us 
with readings and impersonations; but it should 
also be said that the leading elocutionists at Chau- 
tauqua made it a large part of their task to ac- 
quaint us with great literature, both in poetry, in 
prose, and especially in the drama. 

In 1905 the Colonnade Building was built and 
became the business center of Chautauqua. Dur- 
ing this season Mr. Scott Brown, the General 
Director under Principal George E. Vincent, called 
into the service of the Chautauqua Institution, as 
assistant, a young man to become in a few years 
his successor, Mr. Arthur E. Bestor. Mr. Bestor 
also began lecturing upon the platform in a course 
on "Studies in American Diplomacy." 



ROOSEVELT AT CHAUTAUQUA 299 

In the report of the year 1906, 1 notice a custom 
that is mentioned for the first time this year, 
though it may have been observed before. On the 
opening night, June 28, signal fires were lighted 
at prominent points around the lake, notifying 
the summer residents, whose cottages by this 
year were girdling Lake Chautauqua, that the 
Assembly had now begun for another season. 
This illumination has been followed every year 
since 1906, and appropriately gives notice to every 
village between Mayville and Jamestown that the 
light of Chautauqua has begun to shine. 

The program of July we find as full as that of 
August. During the earlier month were lectures 
and addresses by Professor F. Hyatt Smith on 
"Eminent Englishmen of the Nineteenth Century " 
— Coleridge, Macaulay, Carlyle, Matthew Arnold, 
and others; literary lectures by Leon H. Vincent, 
who was now "Doctor of Letters," Mr. Henry 
Turner Bailey, head of the Arts and Crafts, but 
lecturer on many subjects; Newell Dwight Hillis 
of Plymouth Church, Brooklyn; Dr. W. J. Daw- 
son, an English preacher and author who had 
lately come to live in America, equally great in 
the pulpit and in literature ; Dr. S. C. Schmucker, 
one who could make a scientific subject plain to 
the lay-mind; Dr. John T. McFarland, head of 



300 THE STORY OF CHAUTAUQUA 

the Sunday School work of the Methodist Episco- 
pal Church; Mrs. Donald McLean, President- 
General of the Daughters of the American Rev- 
olution, and other speakers. 

During August a most interesting course of 
lectures was given by Mr. John Graham Brooks 
on ''America Viewed by Outside People" — 
showing how the estimates of our country, es- 
pecially by English writers, had arisen from 
almost contemptuous criticism (much of it de- 
served, it must be admitted) to high apprecia- 
tion. Mr. Griggs gave a new course of literary 
lectures. Bishop Vincent gave a lecture on Martin 
Luther. Prof. Cecil F. Lavell spoke on historical 
subjects. Sir Chentung Lieng Chang, the Am- 
bassador from China, graduate of an American 
college, Amherst, I think — was a visitor and spoke 
in excellent English. Prof. Edward A. Steiner, 
the great authority on immigration, lectured on 
**Our Foreign Population," and told a remarkable 
story of a journey that he had made through 
underground Russia, visiting nearly a hundred 
revolutionary centers. Mr. Ernest Thompson 
Seton talked on wild animals, to the enjoyment of 
both young and old. 

On Recognition Day of the C. L. S. C, August 15, 
1906, the new Hall of Philosophy was dedicated. 



ROOSEVELT AT CHAUTAUQUA 301 

In 1907 Professor George E. Vincent was made 
President of the Chautauqua Institution. His 
father retained the title of Chancellor, but the ac- 
tive duties of the management were now entirely 
in the hands of the President. In the following 
year, Mr. Arthur E. Bestor was advanced to the 
place formerly held by Mr. Scott Brown, that of 
Senior Director in charge of all business adminis- 
trations and assisting President Vincent on the 
educational side. 

A man who made his mark deeply on Chautau- 
qua came this year for the first time, Mr. Henry 
Turner Bailey of the Arts and Crafts School. He 
could not only teach, but could lecture on art or 
history in a most fascinating manner, all the time 
drawing pictures on the blackboard with both 
hands at once. Under his care the Arts and 
Crafts shops were assembled, grew into a village, 
and later found their home in a series of fine build- 
ings on College Hill. He continued with us year 
after year imtil a new position in Cleveland, Ohio, 
compelled him to sever relations with Chautauqua. 

Two great conferences were held this summer. 
The first was on "The Juvenile Problem," July 
8th-i3th. Speakers on the subject were Rev. W. 
Byron Forbush on "The Knights of King Arthur," 
an order of which he was the founder; Mr. W. R. 



302 THE STORY OF CHAUTAUQUA 

George, on "The George Junior Republic'*; Judge 
Ben B. Lindsey of Denver on "The Juvenile 
Court." Mr. Melvil Dewey, Rev. Crawford 
Jackson, Judge Willis Brown and Mr. E. B. 
DeGrott spoke on "Public Playgrounds," "The 
Public Library," "The Child and the State," and 
kindred subjects. 

The other conference was held July 29th to 
August 3d, on "The Social Unrest." A few of 
the speakers and their topics were: Mr. John 
Graham Brooks on "The Challenge of Socialism" ; 
Mr. James Wadsworth, Jr., afterward U. S. 
Senator from New York, on "Politics"; Mr. R. R. 
Bowker on "The Corporation"; Mr. Henry Clews 
on "Capital"; Mr. J. G. Phelps Stokes and his 
wife. Rose Pastor Stokes, on "A Defense of Social- 
ism"; Bishop Henry C. Potter, "The Church"; 
Mr. Charles Stelzle, "The Church and the 
Classes"; Miss Jane Addams on "The Settlement 
Movement." 

On the regular lecture platform appeared 
Governor Charles E. Hughes of New York, Mr. 
William Jennings Bryan who had just returned 
from a trip around the world and spoke on "The 
Old World and Its Ways," President G. Stanley 
Hall a series on "Five Non-Christian Religions," 
President George E. Vincent on "Utopias," a 



ROOSEVELT AT CHAUTAUQUA 303 

series describing the ideals of men for the com- 
munity and the state from Plato's Republic to 
the Community of Robert Dale Owen. Bishop 
Vincent also gave a lecture, the father and the son 
speaking on different days from the same platfrom. 
My recollection is that the Bishop spoke this sum- 
mer on "Sidney Lanier and His Poetry,*' and 
placed him high on the roll of American poets. 

Another lecturer who pleased us all was the 
bright essayist, Samuel McChord Crothers. His 
paper on "The Society for Polite Unlearning" 
was heard by a crowd in the Hall of Philosophy. 
Most of the audience caught the undertone of wis- 
dom with the wit, but a few thought that it was 
only funny, in which they were mistaken. Dr. 
Shailer Mathews, Dr. C. F. Aked, and Bishop 
McDowell were among those who conducted the 
daily Devotional Services. 

Grand Army Day was a dramatic occasion in 
the fact that before an audience of old Union sol- 
diers, in their G. A. R. uniforms, the address was 
giv^n by Mrs. LaSalle Corbell Pickett, the widow 
of General George Edward Pickett of the Con- 
federate Army, who led the famous "Pickett's 
Charge" in the battle of Gettysburg— an attack 
that stands in history beside the "Charge of the 
Light Brigade," sung by Tennyson. Her story 



304 THE STORY OF CHAUTAUQUA 

of that great day, deciding the destiny of a con- 
tinent, was Hstened to, not merely with interest, 
but with outbreaking enthusiasm by an audience 
of Union soldiers, who honored the memory of a 
soldier whom they looked upon less as a foe than 
as a hero. 

One little incident told by Mrs. Pickett we must 
make room for ; in substance it was this : On Lee's 
march through Pennsylvania, Pickett's division 
passed a young girl who waved a United States 
flag, and then, fastening it around her waist, 
cried, "Traitors! come and touch this flag if you 
dare!" At this fierce challenge, a mingled stir of 
many voices went through the long gray ranks and 
many a rifle shifted uneasily. General Pickett 
rode in front of his men, and with true southern 
chivalry saluted her flag. Then he turned and 
faced his men. The soldiers followed his example, 
and as they passed by, every hat was swung aloft 
in honor of the girl and her flag. The little maiden 
was so overcome by this generosity that she cried 
out, * * I wish I had a rebel flag ; I'd wave that too ! " 

In October, 1907, the Colonnade Building, which 
had been standing only two years, was wholly 
destroyed by fire, causing a loss of $100,000, with 
an insurance of about $55,000. The indirect loss 
is not easy to estimate, for it included the contents 



ROOSEVELT AT CHAUTAUQUA 305 

of the stores and the issues of the Magazine ready 
for mailing, with much other printed matter of the 
Institution. This was the fourth fire which had 
occurred during the thirty-four years of Chautau- 
qua; a remarkable record when one remembers 
how close together are many of the houses, and all 
built of wood. Plans for rebuilding the Colon- 
nade were taken up immediately, also the begin- 
ning of a quadrangle of buildings for the Arts and 
Crafts Department and the erection of a Post 
Office Building. 

In 1908 the July program included the names of 
Professor J. E. McFadyen of Knox College, 
Toronto, Principal James Robertson of Scotland, 
and Dr. W. L. Watkinson of England; all these in 
the Department of ReHgious Work, which was un- 
usually strong that year. Dr. Watkinson looked 
the least like an Englishman that could be im- 
agined. Long and lank and lean, he might have 
been taken for a Yankee of the Yankees, until he 
began to speak. His oratory is indescribable, 
original thoughts expressed in original language, 
with here and there a solemn witticism at which 
the hearer wanted to laugh but hardly dared to. 
Bishop Vincent gave a lecture on "An Old School 
House." Dr. H. W. Wiley, the food specialist 
and foe of misbranded packages of food, gave an 



3o6 THE STORY OF CHAUTAUQUA 

address. Norman Hapgood of Collier's Magazine, 
Hon. Everett Colby of New Jersey, a leader in 
political reform, Prof. Graham Taylor, a sociolo- 
gist and social reformer, were among the speakers. 
In August of 1908, a notable English lady spoke 
on the Amphitheater platform, Mrs. Philip Snow- 
den, wife of a member of Parliament. It was 
said that her husband owed his election to her 
power of public speaking, and especially to her 
skill in answering "heckling" questions — a politi- 
cal method quite common in England, though 
regarded as not quite proper in America. In 
our country when one party holds a meeting, it 
is not considered fair to interrupt the flow of 
oratory and disconcert the orator by disagree- 
able questions from the other side; but in Great 
Britain every political speaker must face such 
enquirers, and the one who put them to little Mrs. 
Snowden generally got the worst of the encoun- 
ter. Though slight and seemingly fragile, speak- 
ing apparently without effort, every syllable of 
her speeches on the question of woman's enfran- 
chisement could be distinctly heard from every 
seat in the Amphitheater. Other speakers in 
August, 1908, were Lieut. -Governor Chanler of 
New York, Edward Howard Griggs, Prof. Charles 
M. Cobern, an authority on Biblical archaeology, 



ROOSEVELT AT CHAUTAUQUA 307 

Dr. Leon H. Vincent in a course on "French 
Literary Celebrities," President J. D. Moffatt of 
Washington and Jefferson College, Pennsylvania, 
Charles Stelzle on social rights and wrongs, and 
George Riddle in some enjoyable recitations. 
Percy Alden, M.P., spoke on "Social and Eco- 
nomic Questions " in England and Charles F. Lavell 
gave a course on historical lectures. Dr. R. S. 
MacArthur and Dr. J. Wilbur Chapman were 
among the preachers and leaders of the Devo- 
tional Hour. 

August II, 1908, was Pennsylvania Day, with 
addresses in praise of the Keystone State by 
Governor E. G. Stuart, Ex-Governor and General 
J. A. Beaver, and others. 



CHAPTER XXI 

THE PAGEANT OF THE PAST 
(1909^1912) 

The thirty-sixth session of Chautauqua was 
epoch making in the development of material 
resources. The blackened ruins of the burned 
Colonnade Building were replaced by a new 
structure, the official headquarters of the Institu- 
tion, the business center, and on its upper floor 
a rooming place for many employees in the offices. 
On the southern front of the Plaza arose the new 
Post Office Building, with the village public library, 
the presses and office of the Chautauqua Press. 
The first section of the projected Arts and Crafts 
quadrangle was built, to the great joy of Mr. 
Bailey, who had labored and almost fought for 
its construction. The Hall of Pedagogy arose at 
one end of the grounds and the Athletic Club 
House at the other. The Hall of the Christ was 
completed after many years of slow growth, and 
the Commons, a boarding-place for students, was 
opened through all the year for employees residing 

308 



THE PAGEANT OF THE PAST 309 

during the winter. As a venture, with some 
questioning, the New York Symphony Orchestra 
was engaged for a week of concerts, its leader being 
Walter Damrosch. Who would have dreamed in 
1909 that in 1920 the same orchestra would sound 
its harmonies through six full weeks! 

The keynote of the year, and indeed of Chau- 
tauqua through all its history, was expressed in 
President George E. Vincent's utterance in his 
annual report — that Chautauqua must **be kept 
in close and sympathetic connection with the great 
currents of national life. It must be a center 
from which the larger and more significant move- 
ments may gain strength and intelligent support." 
The season this year opened on Friday, July 2d, 
with a lecture by President Vincent on ** Vocation 
and Culture." 

To even name the speakers of the year and their 
subjects would necessitate the enlargement of our 
book, and to omit any of them may bring the 
author into peril of his life if he should meet any of 
those left out ; but he must face the prospect of a 
martyr's end, by naming only a few. President 
Edwin Earle Sparks, of the Pennsylvania State 
College, gave a series of lectures on American 
history; Prof. Archer B. Hulbert on **The Military 
Conquest of the Alleghanies " ; Prof. Stockton 



310 THE STORY OF CHAUTAUQUA 

Axson on "Literary Leaders"; Dr. Andrew Sloan 
Draper, Superintendent of Education for New 
York State, spoke, also Prof. George Albert Coe, 
Prof. Clyde W. Votaw, and Dr. Richard M. Hodge 
— these four on subjects relating to education; 
Mr. Earl Barnes gave a course of lectures, besides 
teaching in the schools; Booker T. Washington, 
President Frank R. Sanders, Dr. P. S. Henson, 
Prof. Henry F. Cope, Mr. Ernest Hamlin Abbott, 
of The Outlook J and many more were with us in 
July, 1908. 

In August we heard Prof. Richard Burton in a 
course of literary lectures ; Dr. George Adam Smith, 
Richard G. Moulton, and J. M. Thoburn, Jr., a 
nephew of Bishop Thoburn, also Bishop Samuel 
Fallows of the Reformed Episcopal Church, 
and the Rev. Samuel A. Eliot, a son of the Har- 
vard President. Mr. S. S. McClure gave an off- 
hand conversational address on "The Making of a 
Magazine," the story of his own experience. 

The Devotional Hour was by this year firmly 
fixed in the Chautauqua system. The Chaplain 
preached on Sunday morning, at the great Amphi- 
theater service, and at ten o'clock for five days 
following gave an address on some religious topic. 
Among our chaplains during the season of 1908 
were Dr. Charles E. Jefferson of New York, Prof. 



THE PAGEANT OF THE PAST 311 

Herbert L. Willett of the University of Chicago, 
President Herbert Welch, and Dr. R. H. Conwell. 
The Recognition address to the graduating class of 
the C. L. S. C. was by President Faunce of Brown 
University on "Ideals of Modem Education." 

This year a course in Esperanto, the proposed 
world-language, was conducted, and the second 
Esperanto Congress of America was held at 
Chautauqua. Not having studied the language 
and being too busy to attend the convention, the 
writer is unable to state whether the lectures were 
given in that tongue or in English, the inferior 
language which Esperanto is expected to displace. 
Probably two or three hundred years hence 
Shakespeare's plays, Milton's poems, and Mark 
Twain's stories will be known only in that language, 
English being a quarry for archaeological research 
with about as many students as Greek or Sanscrit 
has to-day. _ jmD . 

An event of 190 1 which attracted crowds from all 
Chautauqua County and its surroundings was the 
historical pageant of scenes in the history of Chau- 
tauqua Lake. It included scenes from the Indian 
Wars before the Revolution, the French explorers, 
the British and American soldiers of the Revo- 
lutionary period, and the settlement of the shores. 
This was followed by the rendition of a play, The 



312 THE STORY OF CHAUTAUQUA 

Little Father of the Wilderness, by Francis Wilson 
and his company. The concerts of the preceding 
year by the New York Symphony Orchestra, 
under Walter Damrosch, had been so successful 
that the management brought them for a second 
visit in 1 910. 

One distinguished visitor in 19 10 was the Right 
Honorable James Bryce, Ambassador of Great 
Britain to our country. His lecture was on 
* ' History and Politics . " Dr . S . M . Crothers gave 
four lectures in his own inimitable manner on 
"The One Hundred Worst Books." He proposed 
as an interesting question, "Suppose that twenty 
centuries hence, when the English language may be 
as dead as Latin and Greek are now, what authors 
in English literature will be remembered ? ' ' Direc- 
tor Bestor found time in the midst of his labors 
to give us a fine lecture on "Gladstone." Paul 
Vincent Harper, son of President Harper, spoke on 
* * Life in Palestine " after a visit to that land. Dr. 
Griggs gave a course on "Social Progress." Dis- 
tinguished visitors from the old country were 
Sir William Ramsay, the highest authority in the 
English-speaking world on the church in the New 
Testament age, and Lady Ramsay. Both 
lectured. Lady Ramsay on "The Women of Tur- 
key." Mrs. Philip Snowden gave another course 



THE PAGEANT OF THE PAST 313 

of lectures, maintaining fully her popularity. 
She was strongly in favor of the suffrage for women 
but as strongly opposed to the methods of the mili- 
tant suffragettes. Another speaker who attracted 
attention, although his views were not accepted by 
the majority at Chautauqua, was the Secretary of 
the American Federation of Labor, Mr. John B. 
Lennon. On the questions pertaining to trade 
unions and collective bargaining, however, one who 
talked with the Chautauqua constituency was 
surprised to find so large a number of progressive 
thinkers taking the side of labor against capital. 

The Chautauqua Devotional Hour was repre- 
sented in the season of 19 10 by Dr. Hugh 
Black, Dr. J. Wilbur Chapman, Dr. G. A. Johnston 
Ross, and Charles D. Williams, who was now 
Bishop of Michigan. 

It has been found that many are eager to enjoy 
the advantages of the Summer Schools at Chau- 
tauqua who are unable to meet the expense. 
To aid these, various gifts have been made from 
time to time. On old First Night in 191 o a system 
of fifty annual scholarships was established by 
setting apart the offering of that evening for this 
purpose, and the fund has since been increased 
from year to year. 

In 191 1, the Miller Bell Tower at the Point 



314 THE STORY OF CHAUTAUQUA 

beside the Pier was dedicated. For years the 
chime of Meneely bells had stood in the belfry of 
the old building on the Pier. But the piles 
beneath it were becoming decayed and the bells 
by their weight and their movement racked the old 
edifice. Their removal was necessary and the 
Tower was built adjoining the wharf. A fine clock 
presented by the Seth Thomas Clock Company, 
and the chimes, were placed in the summit of the 
Tower which received the name "Lewis Miller Bell 
Tower." These bells ring five minutes before the 
lecture hours, and at certain times, morning, 
noon, and night, the chimes play familiar music. 
After the night bell, which may be either at lo or 
10.30, silence is supposed to reign throughout the 
grounds. One of the original peal of four bells, 
afterward enlarged to form the chime of ten bells, 
is named the Bryant bell, and is rung precisely 
at twelve o'clock noon on the first day of October 
as a signal for beginning the readings of the Chau- 
tauqua Circle. The name is in honor of William 
CuUen Bryant, in recognition of his interest in 
the C. L. S. C. 

During the season of 191 1 a number of illus- 
trated lectures were given by Prof. R. W. Moore 
on "The Rhine"; by C. L. Harrington on "Aerial 
Navigation," — a lecture fully up to date at that 



THE PAGEANT OF THE PAST 315 

time, surprising to many who heard it and looked 
at the pictures. But that was before the great 
war, and the same lecture would be hopelessly 
behind the times in 1921. Mr. Henry Turner 
Bailey showed us "A Dozen Masterpieces of 
Painting," and Mr. Jacob A. Riis, *'The Making of 
an American," Dr. Henry R. Rose exhibited 
"The Oberammergau Passion Play," and Dr. H. 
H. Powers, ** Venice." Both President George E. 
Vincent and Director Arthur E. Bestor gave 
lectures; also Edmund Vance Cooke and Mr. 
Earl Barnes, Mr. Leland Powers impersonated 
stories and plays as nobody else could. Mr. 
Frank A. Vanderlip gave three lectures on *' Bank- 
ing," which proved far more interesting than 
most of us had anticipated. Dr. H. H. Powers 
told in a series of lectures the stories of five great 
cities, Athens, Rome, Florence, Paris, and London. 
Dr. Gunsaulus gave a series of lectures on "Some 
of the Great Plays of Shakespeare"; Prof. S. C. 
Schmucker, a series mingling science with history 
on "American Students of Nature, — Audubon, 
Agassiz, Gray and Thoreau." Dean George 
Hodges in the Department of Religion lectured 
in a course on "Christian Social Betterment." 

Among the chaplains of 191 1 are the names of 
Bishop E. E. Hoss of the Methodist Episcopal 



3i6 THE STORY OP CHAUTAUQUA 

Church, South, Dr. John T. Stone of Chicago, Dr. 
Shailer Mathews, also of Chicago, Dr. C. F. Aked, 
then a pastor in San Francisco, and Rev. Silvester 
Home of England. The baccalaureate sermon 
before the C. L. S. C. was this year given by the 
Chancellor, Bishop Vincent. 

For twenty-two years William H. Sherwood was 
head of the piano department in the schools and 
untiring in his labors. He died in 1910, and in 
1 912 the Sherwood Memorial Studio on College 
Hill was opened and dedicated to his memory. 
A hospital, long needed, was this year established, 
named **The Lodge." The Department of Re- 
ligious Work was reorganized, made more promi- 
nent, and placed under the charge of Dean Shailer 
Mathews as "Director of Religious Work.'* The 
headquarters of this department were established 
in the Hall of Christ. 

The Independence Day address was given by 
Director Bestor on ' ' The Old World and the New, ' ' 
the social, political, municipal, religious conception 
on the two sides of the Atlantic. Two stories from 
his lectures are worthy of being repeated. One 
was Theodore Roosevelt's retort when accused 
of wanting to become a king. * 'A king ! what is a 
king? Why, a kind of perpetual Vice-President." 
The other was a conversation that Mr. Bestor had 



THE PAGEANT OF THE PAST 317 

with an Englishman whom he met in Berlin. He 
asked "What would you do in England if the royal 
line should develop a William II. or a Roosevelt?" 
The Englishman answered, ** Impossible! A man 
with any real political initiative is not to be 
thought of in the English kingship!" 

For the first time, partisan political addresses 
were given on the Chautauqua platform. This 
was the year, it will be remembered, when Mr. 
Taft had been renominated by the regular Re- 
publican Convention, Mr. Roosevelt by the bolt- 
ing Progressives, and Woodrow Wilson by the 
Democrats. It was decided to allow each of the 
parties to be represented. Attorney-General 
Wickersham spoke in behalf of the Republicans, 
Mr. Eugene W. Chafin, the candidate of the 
Prohibition Party, addressed a crowded Amphi- 
theater, and seemed to give everybody great 
enjoyment from the constant laughter and ap- 
plause. He said after the election that if every- 
body who applauded and cheered his speeches had 
voted for him, he would have been President ! 

But the great audience assembled, packing the 
Amphitheater to its utmost comer, with a great 
ring of people standing around it, to hear William 
Jennings Bryan. On account of an afternoon 
lecture in Ohio, he sent word that he could not 



31 8 THE STORY OF CHAUTAUQUA 

arrive until 8.45 in the evening, and it was nine 
when at last he stood on the platform. But he 
held the crowd in rapt attention to the end of his 
plea in behalf of the Democratic Party and its 
candidate, who was indebted to Mr. Bryan more 
than to any other worker for his nomination and, 
as the result showed, for his election. I am not 
certain who spoke in behalf of Mr. Roosevelt, but 
think that it was Mr. William H. Prendergast, 
Comptroller of New York City. 

Among the lecturers of 1912 we heard the 
Baroness Von Suttner, who had taken the Nobel 
Peace Prize by her book Lay Down Your A rms. She 
gave a strong plea for arbitration between nations, 
to take the place of war. There was also a lecture 
by David Starr Jordan, President of Leland 
Stanford University, on "The Case Against War," 
showing conclusively that the day of wars was past 
and that the financial interrelations of nations 
would make a great war impossible. How little 
we dreamed of the war-cloud within two years to 
drench the whole world in blood! There was, 
indeed, one warning voice at this Assembly, that of 
Mr. H. H. Powers, in his clear-sighted lecture on 
* * International Problems in Europe. * ' He did not 
predict war, bitt he showed from what causes 
a great war might arise. There was a debate on 



THE PAGEANT OF THE PAST 319 

Woman Suffrage. Mrs. Ida Husted Harper gave 
several lectures in its behalf, and Miss Alice Hill 
Chittenden on "The Case Against Suffrage." 
Professor Scott Nearing gave a course of lectures 
on social questions, showing powerfully the evils 
of the time, and setting forth his view of the 
remedy, — a socialistic reorganization of the State 
and of society in general. Some conservative 
people who heard Scott Nearing lecture, regarded 
him as a firebrand, in danger of burning up the 
national temple, but those who met him in social 
life were compelled to yield to the charm of his 
personal attractiveness. Dr. Leon H. Vincent 
gave a course of lectures on "Contemporary Eng- 
lish Novelists.'* He began in the Hall of Philos- 
ophy, but was compelled to move into the 
Amphitheater. Mr. Charles D. Coburn of the 
Cobum Players gave a careful, critical address, 
summing up fairly the good and evil, on "The 
Drama and the Present Day Theater." 

The Daily Devotional Service in the Amphi- 
theater, and the addresses on "The Awakened 
Church," in the Hall of Christ, one at nine o'clock, 
the other at ten, drew large congregations. It 
could not be said that Chautauqua was losing 
interest in religion. Canon H. J. Cody of Tor- 
onto gave a series of talks on "Bible Portraits 



320 THE STORY OF CHAUTAUQUA 

of Persons we Know: i, The Average Man; 2, The 
Man in the Street; 3, The Man who Misapplies the 
Past ; 4, The Man who is Dying of Things' ' ; Prof. 
Francis S. Peabody of Harvard a series on "Chris- 
tian Life in the Modem World." Bishop 
McDowell (Methodist) conducted the Hour for a 
week to the great spiritual uplift of the large audi- 
ence. Dr. Shailer Mathews gave an interesting 
series on "The Conversations of Jesus," Dr. 
James A. Francis a course on "Evangelism." 

Realizing how many worthy names I have 
omitted, I close regretfully the record of Chau- 
tauqua in 1912. 



CHAPTER XXII 

WAR CLOUDS AND WAR DRUMS 
(1913-I916) 

There have been visitors at Chautauqua who, 
listening to some of the lecturers and their radical 
expressions, were alarmed and inclined to believe 
that the woods were full of cranks, faultfinders of 
the general social order, wild agitators, and re- 
volutionary reformers bent on reorganizing the 
world. Chautauqua has always favored the freest 
discussion of all subjects and has admitted to its 
platform spokesmen upon all the questions of the 
time and from every point of view, even some 
unpopular men airing their unpopular ideas, 
confident that in the conflict of opinions the right 
will triumph. In 191 3 the living question under 
discussion was Socialism; what it means, its posi- 
tive aims and the arguments both for and against 
it. Here are the names of some speakers on that 
controverted subject. Professor Scott Nearing, 
perhaps the most radical of any, spoke on ** Social 
Sanity," although his conception of sanity was 

ai 321 



322 THE STORY OF CHAUTAUQUA 

looked upon by many as absolutely insane. Mr. 
J. W. Bengough explained and advocated "The 
Single Tax" and almost converted some of us to 
his doctrine. Mrs. Rose Pastor Stokes, a most 
winsome speaker, without opinion as to her views, 
told us of ''The Socialist's Attitude towards 
Charity," which was that much denominated 
charity is simple justice. Mr. Victor L. Berger 
of Milwaukee, who has several times been denied a 
seat in Congress to which he was elected on the 
Socialist ticket, stated the views and demands of 
his party. Dr. H. H. Powers spoke on "Present 
Day Socialism in Europe , ' ' John Mitchell gave us 
"The Trades-union Point of View." Earl Barnes 
took part in the discussion, and Dr. Charles R. 
Henderson of Chicago also touched upon it. 
Some speakers were openly for, others as strongly 
against the movement. Whether the Socialist 
Party gained voters may be doubted, but it 
certainly enjoyed a full and fair hearing. 

Turning from politics to religion, which should 
have a more intimate friendship than most people 
give them, we notice the Devotional Hour during 
the season of 1913. The Chaplain for the first 
week was Dr. Charles F. Wishart of the Pittsburgh 
Theological Seminary, his addresses being on "The 
Christian View of Some Facts of Life." Dr. Lynn 



WAR CLOUDS AND WAR DRUMS 323 

Harold Hough, then a Methodist pastor in Balti- 
more, and Rev. Arthur C. Hill of London were on 
the list. Dr. S. M. Crothers of Cambridge, Mass., 
preached one Sunday and conducted the Devo- 
tional Hour a week in a series on "Gaining the 
Mastery." Bishop Williams was on the platform 
again, speaking on "Aspects of Personal Religion." 
Anyone who attended this service through the 
season — and the daily congregation was not far 
below a thousand — would obtain a pretty clear 
understanding of Christianity and the character 
of its advocates. 

Every year the musical element grows at Chau- 
tauqua. There was this year, as had been the case 
for several seasons, a Musical Festival Week, with 
daily concerts. For many years there had been 
a quartette of the best soloists during July and 
another during August, supported by a chorus 
often of three hundred voices and the great 
Massey organ. Henry B. Vincent, who is the son 
of Dr. B. T. Vincent of the Children's Class, grew 
up at Chautauqua, in a sense, spending his summers 
there from early childhood. For many years he 
has been at the organ seat, except when conduct- 
ing the orchestra which he organized and trained. 
In 1 912 he gave an interesting course of lectures 
on "How to Listen to Music." Every Simday 



324 THE STORY OF CHAUTAUQUA 

afternoon a large audience assembles to hear Mr. 
Vincent for an hour in an organ recital. An 
oratorio of his composition and under his direction 
was given at Chautauqua some years ago, entitled 
"The Prodigal Son." With one Vincent Founder 
and Chancellor, his son the President, one nephew 
a lecturer every year or two on literature, the other 
nephew the organ and band master, and his mother 
the President of the Woman's Club for many years, 
the Vincent family has been worthily represented 
at Chautauqua. 

While speaking of music we must not forget one 
course of lectures by Mr. Olin Downes, musical 
critic of the Boston Posty on * ' Musical Expression 
in Dramatic Form," a history of the music drama 
in general; early French operas; the German 
Romantic School; Richard Wagner; Verdi and 
Latter-day Italians. 

Prof. Richard Burton gave an entire course of 
lectures on ''The Serious Bernard Shaw," which 
caused a run upon the library for Shaw's writings, 
as I perceived, for I vainly sought them. Miss 
Maud Miner of the School of Expression gave 
some recitals and a lecture, packed full of sug- 
gestions on "Efficiency in Speech." Dr. George 
Vincent spoke to a crowded Amphitheater on "A 
National Philosophy of Life." A Serbian, Prince 



WAR CLOUDS AND WAR DRUMS 335 

Lazarovich Hvebelianovich, gave a lurid picture 
of the Balkan situation. Let me quote one 
sentence as reported in the Daily of July 11, 19 13 
(note the date) : 

*' Within the next few months there will be a 
war; and such a war as has not stirred Europe since 
the days of Napoleon; a war that will involve all 
the principal nations on that side of the Atlantic." 

Less than thirteen months after that prediction 
came the event in the capital of his own little 
nation which let loose twenty millions of armed 
men, filled the seas with warships, above and be- 
neath the waves, and the skies with fighting 
aeroplanes. 

Mrs. Percy V. Pennybacker of Texas, gave a 
series of addresses on the Federation of Woman's 
Clubs, of which she was at that time the 
President. We listened to a Chinaman, Ng Poon 
Chew, the editor of a Chinese daily paper in San 
Francisco, on "China in Transformation," a clear 
account of the new Republic of China in its varied 
aspects, spoken in the best of English. We 
noticed too, that the speaker showed an under- 
standing and appreciation which foreigners are 
often slow to obtain of American humor and 
jokes. 

Another lecturer from abroad, though hardly 



326 THE STORY OF CHAUTAUQUA 

a foreigner, for he came from England, Prof. J. 
Stoughton Holborn, wearing his Oxford gown 
(which we had not seen before at Chautauqua), 
gave a course on "The Inspiration of Greece," — 
a view of that wonderful people in the different 
fields of their greatness. Think of one city which 
in the departments of literature, drama, philos- 
ophy, oratory, art, and public affairs could show 
more great men in two hundred years than all the 
rest of the world could show in two thousand ! 

We were treated during the season of 1913 to a 
sight new at that time, though common enough 
now. Mr. Engels brought to Chautauqua a 
Curtiss hydroplane, and day after day made 
flights, skimming over the surface of the lake, 
rising into the air, circling the sky and returning 
to the starting-point, to the amazement of the 
watching multitudes. A few, and but a few, dared 
to be strapped into the machine and take the 
flight; Director Bestor was one of them, and when 
Mrs. Bestor heard of it she said: *'I told him that 
he must not do it, but I knew all the time that he 
would!" 

Another event of the season was the production 
of a Greek play, in the original language, by a 
group of college students in Greek costume. 
Another fact worthy of remembrance was the 



WAR CLOUDS AND WAR DRUMS 327 

opening of a completely furnished playground for 
the children in the ravine near the ball-ground. 
To stand on the bridge and look down upon that 
company of happy little people, is always a delight. 
Also it is not to be forgotten that this year for 
the first time natural gas for cooking and heating 
was supplied throughout the grounds. 

The year 19 14 was the fortieth anniversary of 
the founding of Chautauqua. One of the Found- 
ers was with us, hale and hearty, and still able to 
give an admirable address, although his memory of 
recent matters and people had failed. The other 
Founder was no longer among us, and even fifteen 
years after his departure we of the earlier days 
missed him; but his memory will ever be kept 
green at Chautauqua, while the white lilies are 
silently unfolded in his honor. On Friday, July 
3d, the signal fires were lighted all around the 
Lake. The celebration of the anniversary did not 
take place until August, near the date in the month 
of the first Assembly. On Sunday, August 2d, 
Bishop Vincent preached in the Amphitheater with 
scarcely any lessening of his old power. At the 
anniversary service. Dr. Jesse L. Hurlbut — who 
was exhibited as one of the survivals of the pre- 
historic age, a sort of a dinosaurus or pleiosaurus, 
— gave an address on "Memories of Early Days,'* 



328 THE STORY OF CHAUTAUQUA 

of which the reader may find the substance scat- 
tered through these pages. But we must give a 
paragraph or two from Mrs. Frank Beard's paper 
In reference to the interdenominational aspect ot 
the Assembly, she said : 

The good Baptist brother, wandering down by the 
Dead Sea and Sea of Galilee to the Mediterranean, 
looked at the generous supply of water and was 
satisfied. The Presbyterian brother gazed into the 
cloudless sky above him, saw his favorite color, and 
felt that Chautauqua was foreordained for him. The 
lineal descendant of St. Peter croqueted his ball 
through the arch and rejoiced that he was on saving 
ground. 

We sat on the hard board seats with nothing to 
rest our backs upon but the salubrious atmosphere. 
We heard ponderous speakers who talked on ponder- 
ous subjects. Among the speakers was Joseph 
Cook, also Bishop Peck, 350 pounds. Some of the 
lecturers were recommended as cultured and highly 
finished. Mr. Beard said that he had attended these 
lectures, was glad that they were cultured and more 
than pleased that they were finished. 

The music week had now become a permanent 
institution, bringing thousands to the Assembly. 
This year it began on Monday, July 27th, with 
Victor Herbert's orchestra through the seven days, 
the Chautauqua soloists, and the great chorus 
trained by Alfred Hallam. Some musical associ- 



WAR CLOUDS AND WAR DRUMS 329 

ations from Jamestown and elsewhere added their 
voices. 

Among the lecturers, Mr. Griggs gave a course 
on ' ' Dramas of Protest," the Book of Job, Shelley's 
* 'Prometheus Unbound," Galsworthy's ''Justice," 
Calderon's "Life is a Dream," and some others. 
Bourke Cockran, the brilliant orator of Irish de- 
scent, gave a great lecture on "Abraham Lincoln 
— Original Progressive." Miss Mary E. Downey, 
Director of the Library School, spoke on "The 
Evolution of the Library," Dean Edwin Watts 
Chubb on "Shakespeare as a Moral Teacher." 
John Purroy Mitchel, the reform Mayor of New 
York, spoke on "Municipal Government" on 
July 1 8th; Dr. Lincoln HuUey of Florida gave a 
course on the leading American poets. Mr. E. H. 
Blichfeldt spoke most interestingly on "Mexico 
as I Know It," the results of a year of wide travel 
and close observation in that land. 

During the month of July we read in the papers 
of complications in the political world beyond 
the ocean, but few looked for serious trouble and 
none for actual war. On the first of August, 19 14, 
the storm burst, and nation after nation in a few 
hours assembled their hosts for the most terrible 
war in the history of the world. In accordance 
with the Chautauqua tradition of free and open 



330 THE STORY OF CHAUTAUQUA 

discussion, a War Symposium was impi^ovised and 
each of the contending nations had its speaker. 
On Tuesday, August 4th, Dr. Hans E. Gronow 
who had served his time in the German army gave 
"The German Point of View." On Thursday, 
August 6th, Mr. Sanford Griffith, a newspaper 
correspondent and a student of public affairs 
spending several years in Europe whom some of us 
had known as a boy at Chautauqua, spoke on 
"European Unrest Due to Shifts in the Balance of 
Power." On Friday, August 7th, Mons. Benedict 
Papot, formerly a soldier in France, gave "The 
French Point of View," and on Saturday, August 
9th, Dr. W. S. Bainbridge, English in ancestry 
but American in birth and spirit, presented "The 
British Point of View." All the exercises of the 
crowded program were held, but amid all our 
efforts the war brooded above us, a darkening 
cloud. 

The Department of Religious Work was carried 
on with a strong force of speakers and teachers 
under the direction of Dr. Shailer Mathews, its 
details supervised by his efficient assistant, Miss 
Georgia L. Chamberlin of Chicago, who also 
gave daily lectures. Among the instructors were 
Dr. Charles F. Kent of Yale, and Dr. James Hope 
Moulton, one of the richest minds of the age in 



WAR CLOUDS AND WAR DRUMS 331 

Biblical lore, who gave a series of lectures, learned 
yet simple, on "The Origins of Religion." None 
of us could have thought then that this noble life 
in its prime was destined to end in the Mediterran- 
ean by a shot from a German submarine. 

The Devotional Hour and the Sunday services 
were led for a week by the Rev. C. Rexford Ray- 
mond of Brooklyn, who told in several chapters the 
old story of Joseph, yet seeming new in its appli- 
cation. The Rev. G. Robinson Lees, Vicar of St. 
Andrews, Lambeth, England, who had lived in 
Palestine and among the Arabs in the desert, had 
written a book forbidden by the Turkish author- 
ities, and had been banished from the land, 
preached one Sunday morning and gave graphic 
pictures of Oriental life through the week. Dr. 
W. H. Hickman, a former President of the Chau- 
tauqua Board of Trustees, Rev. Peter Ainslie of 
Baltimore, Dr. C. F. Wishart, Dr. Washington 
Gladden, one who was ever welcome at Chautauqua ; 
and a great-hearted man. Dr. George W. Truett 
of Texas, were also chaplains, each serving a week. 

This year also the new golf course was opened 
on the field beyond the public highway, to the 
rejoicing of many patrons. At the close of 
the season the annual convention was held by 
the International Lyceum and Chautauqua Associ- 



332 THE STORY OF CHAUTAUQUA 

ation, the union of bureaus and speakers in the 
** Chain Chautauquas" held all over the continent, 
of which we shall speak later. Their meetings 
were continued until September loth, making 
1 9 14 the longest session in the history of 
Chautauqua. 

In 1915, the war of the world was bringing its 
unspeakable terrors to Europe, and America was 
looking on, yet hesitating to plunge into the welter; 
but Chautauqua held on its even way, its courses 
of instruction as many, and its classes as large as 
ever. This year Dr. George E. Vincent felt 
constrained by the pressure of his duties as Presi- 
dent of the University of Minnesota, with its eight 
thousand students and as large a number in its 
University Extension courses, to withdraw from 
the direct supervision of Chautauqua. He re- 
signed his office as President of the Chautauqua 
Institution, and Dr. Arthur E. Bestor became 
President. But Dr. Vincent retained his member- 
ship on the Board of Trustees, was named Honor- 
ary President, and has continued to come to 
Chautauqua almost every year. Even for a few 
days, and with a lecture or two, his presence gives 
strength to the Assembly. 

In 191 7, Dr. Vincent resigned the presidency 
of the University of Minnesota to accept the same 



WAR CLOUDS AND WAR DRUMS 333 

position with the Rockefeller Foundation, disburs- 
ing millions of dollars every year in the interests of 
world-wide education and health. 

The lecture platform of 1 915 was arranged under 
six great weeks, each making prominent one sub- 
ject, while popular addresses and the devotional 
services went on parallel with them all. The 
first week was devoted to the study of community 
service. Mary Antin, whose book, The Promised 
Land, had been read by everybody, was greeted by 
an audience far beyond the reach of her voice, 
speaking in her ardent manner. Dr. Lincoln 
Wirt proclaimed ** America's Challenge to the 
World"; Mr. E. J. Ward explained the why and 
the how of "Community Service," and Norman 
Angell set forth "American Leadership in World 
Politics." During this week Chancellor McCor- 
mick of the University of Pittsburgh conducted 
the services of the Devotional Hour. 

The second week was devoted to the Drink 
Problem. Bishop Francis J. McConnell of the 
Methodist Episcopal Church preached on Sunday 
morning and spoke at the Devotional Hour each 
day. The opening address was by Governor 
George A. Carlson of Colorado, who set forth 
powerfully the methods and results of prohibition 
in his State. Dr. H. A. Gibbons spoke on "The 



334 THE STORY OF CHAUTAUQUA 

Prohibition Question in Europe." The Hon. J. 
Denny O'Neill, on "Booze and Politics." While 
the temperance question was discussed in the Hall 
of Philosophy, there were concerts and lectures in 
the Amphitheater, one especially by Mr. Sanford 
Griffith, who had been at the battle front as a war 
correspondent , on " Fighting in Flanders. ' ' Also Dr. 
Hamilton Wright Mabie, editor and essayist, spoke 
on **The East and West, Friends or Enemies?" 

The third week was entitled ** Justice and the 
Courts" — with such subjects as law, legislation, 
the administration of justice, and penology. 
Among the speakers were George W. Alger, 
Thomas Mott Osborne, Katharine Bement Davis, 
Judge W. L. Ransom of New York, and Dean 
James Parker Hall of the University of Chicago 
Law School. Mr. Charles Rann Kennedy, author 
of The Servant in the House, a drama with a sermon, 
recited the play, aided by Mrs. Kennedy. The 
play had already been read a year or two before by 
Mrs. Bertha Kunz Baker, and also enacted by the 
Chautauqua Players, so that we were familiar with 
it, but were eager to hear it recited by its author. 
Mr. Kennedy also gave some dramatic interpre- 
tations from the Bible. This week the Devotional 
Hour was held by Dr. Charles W. Gilkey, of the 
Hyde Park Baptist Church in Chicago, the church 



WAR CLOUDS AND WAR DRUMS 335 

nearest to the University and attended by many of 
the faculty and students. 

The music week was notable from the presence 
of the Russian Symphony Orchestra, led by a 
great player and delightful personality, Modest 
Altschuler. One of his company said of him, 
"He rules his orchestra by love." The Recogni- 
tion Address this year was by President E. B. 
Bryan of Colgate University, on the all-important 
question: "Who are Good Citizens?" 

The forty-third Assembly in 191 6 found our 
country in the throes of a presidential election, 
party strife bitter, and the nation divided on the 
impending question of our entrance into the world 
war. The feverish pulse of the time was mani- 
fested in the opinions expressed by the different 
speakers. Dr. George E. Vincent gave a lecture 
on "What is Americanism" — a sane, thoughtful 
view which was needed in that hour. 

The week beginning Sunday, July 23d, was 
devoted to the subject of Preparedness for War or 
Peace. The Ford Peace Expedition of that year 
will be remembered, the effort of a wealthy manu- 
facturer to stop the war. Several who had taken 
part in that apparently quixotic movement spoke 
in defense or criticism of it, and also the question 
of preparedness was discussed by Governor Charles 



336 THE STORY OF CHAUTAUQUA 

S. Whitman, President Hibben of Princeton, Hon. 
Henry A. Wise Wood, Senator W. M. Calder, 
and others. Mrs. Lucia Ames Ward, of the 
Woman's Peace Party, was opposed to any 
participation in the war or preparation for it. 
The controversy waxed warm, for the opinions 
were positive on both sides. 

On subjects aside from the war we had an 
enHghtening series of addresses at the Devotional 
Hour by Dean Charles R. Brown of Yale ; a course 
of lectures by Dr. Edwin E. Slosson on "Major 
Prophets of To-day," Bernard Shaw, G. K. 
Chesterton, H. G. Wells, and some others; a series 
of lectures by Dr. Percy F. Boynton on ''The 
Growth of Consciousness in American Literature," 
— ^as shown in Irving, Cooper, Emerson, Lowell, 
and Whitman. Raymond Robins gave four lec- 
tures on "The Church and the Laboring Classes." 
Dr. Griggs awakened general interest by his lec- 
tures on "Types of Men and Women," as illus- 
trated in their autobiographies and letters, present- 
ing John Stuart Mill, Benevenuto Cellini, George 
John Romanes, Marie Bashkirtseff , Sonya Kovale- 
vasky (a new name to most of us), and Henri 
Frederic Amiel, — all possessing characters pro- 
nounced, some of them so peculiar as to be almost 
abnormal. 



WAR CLOUDS AND WAR DRUMS 337 

The Russian Symphony Orchestra, with its 

beloved director, Modest Altschuler, was with us 

again for another week, aided by the soloists and 

Chautauqua Chorus. In our rapid survey, we 

have only glanced at the prominent events in a 

great season. 
33 



CHAPTER XXIII 

WAR AND ITS AFTERMATH 
(1917-I920) 

When the forty-fourth session of Chautauqua 
opened on Thursday, June 26, 1917, it found the 
American republic just entering upon the Great 
War, which had already raged in Europe for over 
two years. Training camps had sprung up like magic 
all over the land, from ocean to ocean, and young 
men by the hundred thousand had volunteered, 
with others by the million soon cheerfully to accept 
drafting orders. Almost every university had 
been transformed into a war college. President 
Vincent was at the intensive military training 
school at Plattsburg, N. Y. Every morning before 
breakfast two hundred men at Chautauqua were 
marching and counter-marching, and learning the 
manual of arms with wooden guns, with President 
Bestor and most of the officials of the Institution 
in the lines. The young women every afternoon 
were receiving similar drill under a woman officer, 
and some said that they presented even a more 

338 



WAR AND ITS AFTERMATH 339 

soldier-like appearance than the men. The head- 
quarters of several denominations had been com- 
mandeered for Red Cross work and training. A 
stranger could scarcely get into the Methodist 
House without being scrutinized as a possible 
German spy, with a pocketful of poison or pow- 
dered glass to sprinkle on the bandages. War was 
in the air as well as in the newspapers. No matter 
what was the subject of a lecture it was almost sure 
to be on the war before the finish. There were 
discussions on the platform and on the street about 
the League of Nations, some with President Wilson 
in favor of it, others as vigorously against it. A 
symposium on * ' Our Country " and a conference of 
** Organizations Engaged in Education for Patri- 
otic Service " were held during the session; also a 
company of students from the Carnegie Institute 
of Technology, Pittsburgh, presented a brilliant 
pageant, "The Drawing of the Sword." 

The Fourth of July address was given by the 
Hon. G. W. Wickersham, former Attorney-General 
of the United States. Captain A. Radclyffe Dug- 
more of the British Army spoke on "Our Fight 
for Freedom." Miss Ida Tarbell, who had won 
fame by a book showing the operations of the 
Standard Oil Company, and had also written a 
Hfe of Abraham Lincoln, to be found in every 



340 THE STORY OF CHAUTAUQUA 

public library and read more widely than any other 
biography of the Greatest American, gave some i 
lectures. Her literary life, by the way, began 
in the office of the Chautauguan Magazine. Mrs. 
Percy V. Pennybacker this summer became Presi- 
dent of the Chautauqua Woman's Club, which 
office Mrs. B. T. Vincent had relinquished after 
many years of leadership. Both these presidents 
were eminently successful in different directions 
and by different methods, the earlier having built | 
up the Club by wisdom mingled with gentleness; 1 
her successor carried it onward by an energy 
that brought everybody into willing subjection to 
her far-reaching plans. Almost the first result of 
the new administration was the purchase of a club 
house fronting on the Lake, and holding in it 
almost a bewildering series of teas and receptions. 
While the public meetings of the Club crowded 
the new Hall of Philosophy every afternoon, Mrs. 
Pennybacker gave a stirring address on **What our 
Country Asks of its Young Women." 

During the first week Dr. Harry Emerson Fos- 
dick of the Union Theological Seminary was the 
Chaplain, and his addresses blended fervent 
patriotism and fervent religion in about equal 
measure. 

The second week, from July 8th to 14th, was 



WAR AND ITS AFTERMATH 341 

denominated "Arts and Letters,'* with lectures 
on these subjects by Dr. Mitchell Carroll of Wash- 
ington, Henry Turner Bailey of Boston, and others. 
But underneath the artistic and the literary, the 
echo of the war might still be heard in many of the 
lectures, and it sounded out in the Devotional 
Hour addresses of that soldier in the army of the 
Lord, the Chaplain, Bishop Charles D. Williams. 

During the week of July 15th to 21st, the Meth- 
odist Bishop, William Burt of Buffalo, to whose 
**area " (for Methodists of course could not call it a 
** diocese") Chautauqua belongs, was the Chaplain. 
During this week we heard lectures by Admiral 
Peary, the discoverer of the North Pole; by 
Thomas Adams of Canada; by D. R. Garland of 
Ohio; by D. A. Reed of Michigan, and by George 
A. Bellamy of Cleveland. 

July 22d-28th was Musical Festival Week, 
when we had with us once more the Russian 
Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Modest Alt- 
schuler, who was welcomed with sincere rejoicing 
by Chautauqua's multitude. Looking over the 
crowded Amphitheater during those daily con- 
certs, the only reminder of a war in progress was 
that scarcely a young man was to be seen, although 
every seat was occupied. 

From July 29th to August 4th, the Great War 



342 THE STORY OF CHAUTAUQUA 

was the theme on the platform. Mr. Earl Barnes 
gave a series of lectures on "Historical Back- 
grounds of the War,** respectively in the British 
Empire, France, Germany, Austro-Hungary, the 
Russian Empire, and the Balkan Peninsular. Dr. 
Herbert Adams Gibbons presented some of the 
"Problems of the Peace Conference,** — though at 
that time nobody knew when the Conference 
would be held or whether anybody would be left 
alive to hold it. But the cheerful assumption 
was taken that Germany would be beaten, which 
proved to be correct, and also that the Allies 
would rearrange the map of the world, which does 
not now appear to be quite certain. Mr. Sanford 
Griffith, just from the front, gave us an inspiring 
word-picture of "Paris Reborn.** 

The concluding address of the symposium was 
given by President Bestor on "America and the 
War.** It was considered by the National Secu- 
rity League as of sufficient value to be published in 
pamphlet form, and received a wide circulation. 

From August 13th to i8th, Bishop Charles B. 
Mitchell (Methodist Episcopal), living at Minne- 
apolis, held the post of Chaplain, and gave a 
number of heart warming addresses on * * The Trans- 
forming Power of Divine Grace.** During the 
week the Recognition Day exercises were held, 



WAR AND ITS AFTERMATH 343 

with all pomp and ceremonial, the address being 
given by President George E. Vincent. His father 
was present and that afternoon, as Chancellor, 
gave the diplomas to the graduates, but none of us 
knew that it was for the last time, and that his 
face would not be seen again at Chautauqua, al- 
though he lived nearly three years longer. 

In 191 7, President E. B. Bryan of Colgate 
University accepted the position as Director of the 
Summer Schools. But to one who through the 
rest of the year has a college full of students to 
keep in order, and also a faculty to maintain in 
harmony — which one college president told me he 
found the harder task, — the burden at Chau- 
tauqua of a hundred and twenty-five teachers, 
two hundred courses of study, and forty-five 
hundred students during nearly all his summer 
vacation, proved too heavy even for Dr. Bryan's 
shoulders, and after three years, in 191 9, he was 
compelled to relinquish it into the hands of 
President Bestor. 

This summer, also, the new traction station of 
the Chautauqua Lake Railway was opened at 
the highway entrance to the grounds; a handsome 
pillared structure with more room than Chau- 
tauqua had ever before possessed for waiting 
room, ticket office, baggage, freight, and express, a 



344 THE STORY OF CHAUTAUQUA 

convenience appreciated by every visitor. Also, 
by the shore a new bathhouse and the Jacob 
Bolin Gymnasium were built and opened, as well 
as the Fenton Memorial Home for Methodist 
Deaconesses on the Overlook addition. 

In I9i8,we were in the grip of the war, with our 
young men in camp by the million, overseas and 
on their way by the hundred thousand, and every 
woman "doing her bit" in the Red Cross work. 
Outwardly, Chautauqua seemed as flourishing as 
in other years, the hotels and cottages appeared to 
be full, the Amphitheater was crowded at the con- 
certs and popular lectures, and the main streets be- 
fore and after lectures were a continuous procession. 
But the gate receipts showed that the Institution, 
in common with every college in the land, was 
lessened in its attendance and its financial returns. 
Nevertheless, the program was not allowed to 
decline in its extent and its interest. Indeed, 
one added feature attracted attention. In the 
field of the Overlook a National Service School 
was held in cooperation with the Woman *s Naval 
Service. A tented camp was maintained un- 
der the strict discipline of Mrs. George E. Vin- 
cent, with regular guards, and training for more 
than two hundred khaki-clad young women in 
agriculture, telegraphy, basketry, and canteen 



WAR AND ITS AFTERMATH 345 

management. I am not sure about carpentry, 
though I saw a photograph of young women sawing 
boards and putting up a house. 

The value of Chautauqua in national patriotic 
leadership was recognized, not only by our own 
government, but by the Allies as well. Great 
Britain, France, Belgium, Italy, and Greece sent 
official speakers, either through their embassies or 
their special war missions. It was a mark of 
distinguished favor that the French High Com- 
mission gave the French Military Band to Chau- 
tauqua for a week, their longest engagement in 
this country. 

On the opening day, July 4th, President Bestor 
gave the oration on "Mobilizing the Mind of 
America." For nearly a year before, and until 
the Armistice in November of this year, Mr. 
Bestor was almost without intermission in Wash- 
ington in government service as head of the 
Department of Publicity. He was Director of the 
Speaking Division of the Committee on Public 
Information, and also Secretary of the Committee 
on Patriotism of the National Security League, 
an organization which held in many places training 
camps for patriotic speakers. Dr. Bestor was 
carrying on more than double duty until the 
Armistice in 19 18 gave him something of a breath- 



346 THE STORY OF CHAUTAUQUA 

ing spell between the sessions of Chautauqua. 
During the week from July 7th to 13th, Bishop 
Edwin H. Hughes (Methodist Episcopal) was 
Chaplain, and gave addresses of a high character 
on "Varieties of Religious Experience.** As 
samples of the type of lectures during this strenu- 
ous battle summer, this week President E. B. 
Bryan spoke on ''War as a Schoolmaster,** Mr. 
E. H. Griggs began a course on "The War and the 
Reconstruction of Democracy," and Dr. L. A. 
Weigle of Yale lectured on "Religious Education 
in War Times.** One evening Dr. S. H. Clark 
read war lyrics in the Amphitheater. 

The week from July 14th to 20th was ** Women*s 
Service Week,'* and among those who spoke on the 
subject were Anna Howard Shaw, who had been 
called by the President to be Chairman of the 
Women*s National Council of Defense, in com- 
mand of all the activities of women in aid of the 
war. Miss Helen Eraser of England, Mrs. Carrie 
Chapman Catt, Mrs. Ella A. Boole, Mrs. Penny- 
backer, and Mrs. George Thatcher Guernsey, — 
women whose voices had often been heard in 
behalf of woman suffrage, now as ardently speak- 
ing in aid of work to carry on the war. This 
week Dr. S. P. Cadman had been engaged as 
Chaplain, but he was unable to remain more than 



WAR AND ITS AFTERMATH 347 

one day and other men were suddenly drafted 
to take his place on successive mornings, one of 
them, the writer of these pages, on fifteen minutes* 
notice called to conduct the Devotional Hour, 
immediately after an hour's teaching in class. 
This little incident, of no particular interest 
to anybody but the writer, is mentioned merely 
to illustrate the instant change of front which 
must be made frequently at Chautauqua, when a 
speaker is delayed by a railroad wreck or un- 
expectedly called home to conduct a funeral. 

**Our Allies " was the title of the week from July 
22d to 27th. Dr. Charles W. Gilkey of Chicago 
preached the sermon on Sunday morning and led 
in the devotions through the week. Prof. Robert 
Hemdon Fife of the Wesleyan University, Conn., 
gave a series of lectures on **The New Europe.'* 
Not all of his forecasts have yet come to pass, 
for the new Europe is only slowly emerging out of 
the old. Mrs. Kenneth Brown — the name sounds 
American, but she is a Greek lady of rank, bom 
Demetra Vaka — told a harrowing tale of her own 
experience and observation, "In the Heart of the 
German Intrigue . " Dr. Mitchell Carroll of Wash- 
ington gave an account of "Greece, our Youngest 
Ally," with Venizelos as the hero. Lieut. Bruno 
Roselli of the Italian army spoke; Miss Maud 



348 THE STORY OF CHAUTAUQUA 

Hayes of "England in War Time." On Friday 
evening, July 26th, there was a concert in the 
evening of national songs of the Allies; the flags 
of more than twenty nations being hung above 
the choir loft. On Grand Army Day in this week 
Lieut. Telfair Marion Mint on spoke on "The 
Flags of a Thousand Years." 

In the following week, July 28th to August 3d, 
while the Musical Festival was in progress, the 
French Military Band played every day, and 
concert followed concert, with Gaul's "Joan of 
Arc" sung one evening by the soloists and full 
chorus. Dr. Leon H. Vincent gave a course of 
lectures, showing "War in Literature," the stories 
called forth by the Wars of Napoleon, the Crimean 
War, the Franco-Prussian War of 1870, and the 
struggle in progress in 1918 — a most interesting 
series. The Chaplain of this week was the Rev. 
Wm. S. Jacobs, D.D., of Houston, Texas. 

Omitting a fortnight for lack of room, we must 
not omit "The Next Step Forward," the topic of 
the week from August i8th to 24th, a discussion of 
some movements to follow in the footsteps of war, 
such as "Theological Reconstruction," by Shailer 
Mathews; "Christianity in Foreign Lands," by 
Dr. J. L. Barton, Secretary of the American Board 
of Commissioners for Foreign Missions; "The 



WAR AND ITS AFTERMATH 349 

Sunday Evening Club'* and '* Church Advertis- 
ing," by W. F. McClure, and "The Art of Motion 
Pictures," by Vachel Lindsay. There was also a 
course on *'Art in Daily Life," by our English 
friend, Prof. I. B. Stoughton Holbom, of Oxford. 

Bishop McConnell, who conducted the Devo- 
tional Hour, August nth- 17th, also gave the 
Recognition address to the graduating class of 
the C. L. S. C, on "Ideals of Leadership." The 
skies were clouded, yet we were able to hold the 
procession as usual (only once in forty-seven years 
has the march been broken up by rain), but the 
storm fell during the address, with such noise 
on the roof that the Bishop was compelled to pause 
for some minutes until its rage abated. We 
missed on this day especially the presence of 
Bishop Vincent and his son, and the diplomas were 
conferred by Dr. Bestor, the new President of 
Chautauqua. Not long after the closing of the 
Assembly, on November 11, 191 8, "Armistice 
Day" was ushered in by the blowing of every 
steam whistle upon the continent, by all-day pro- 
cessions, by bands and horns, and a surrender of 
the nation to the universal joy, through the news 
that the most terrible war that ever desolated the 
world was over at last. 

When the forty-sixth session of Chautauqua 



350 THE STORY OF CHAUTAUQUA 

opened in 1919, it found the land rejoicing over 
the conclusion of the war, happy in the return of 
two million men in khaki, apparently rich with 
high wages, booming business, and money in 
plenty. It was the top of a tide destined before 
many months to recede to normal conditions. 
But while the flush times lasted, Chautauqua 
^ared in the nation-wide prosperity. This was 
the period of astounding financial drives. One 
great church commemorated the hundred years of 
its missionary enterprise by a centenary move- 
ment and a subscription of more than a hundred 
million dollars. Other churches followed with 
"New Era*' and *' Nation Wide" campaigns. It 
seemed to be the opportunity for Chautauqua to 
reap some benefits from the spirit of the time, and 
the trustees launched the "Comprehensive Plan" 
to raise half a million dollars, freeing the In- 
stitution from all debt and placing it on a safe, 
permanent, and prosperous basis. Here was a 
university of a hundred and twenty-five instruc- 
tors, two hundred courses of study, and nearly five 
thousand students every summer, yet without a 
dollar of endowment; — what college in the land 
was doing so much with an income so small? 
Here was a property of three hundred and fifty 
acres, gradually accumulated, partly by the 



WAR AND ITS AFTERMATH 351 

demands of the Institution's growth, partly from 
the necessity of controlling its surroundings. 
Debts had been incurred by enlargement of the 
grounds, a sewer system, a water supply, electric 
lighting, new buildings, new roads, and a hundred 
items of improvement. The overhead expenses 
of Chautauqua, in the form of interest that must 
be paid, were more than thirty thousand dollars 
every year. How much might be accomplished 
if every debt could be cleared away and the saving 
in interest be applied to the improvement of the 
property and the enlargement of opportunities? 
Mr. John D. Rockefeller made an offer of giving 
one-fifth of all that should be raised, up to the 
desired half -million dollars. The trustees assigned 
to themselves another hundred thousand of the 
amount, and a committee of the cottage owners 
pledged $150,000 from those having property on 
the ground. The plans were carefully laid, and 
during the season of 19 19 every visitor at Chau- 
tauqua was called upon to make his contribution. 
Of all the forty-six years of Chautauqua up to 
191 9, this was the most successful in its history. 
The attendance shown by the receipts at the two 
gates — one at the Pier where the steamboats 
landed their thousands, the other at the new 
station on the public highway where the trolley 



352 THE STORY OF CHAUTAUQUA 

brought the tens of thousands — were far beyond 
that of any former year. The registration at the 
schools was sixty-two per cent, in advance of 191 8, 
and eighteen per cent, beyond that of 19 14, the 
best previous year. Every hotel and boarding 
house inside the fence was full, and pleas were 
made to cottagers to open their doors to incoming 
guests. Many who could not find lodging places 
on the grounds found homes in the hotels and ham- 
lets around the Lake and came daily to the 
Assembly by trolley or by boat. 

During the opening week, Mr. W. W. Ellsworth 
gave two illustrated lectures, one on "Theodore 
Roosevelt," the other ''The Rise and Fall of 
Prussianism," and Prof. Thomas F. Moran of 
Purdue University gave an appreciation of * ' Mark 
Twain, Humorist, Reformer, and Philosopher." 
Miss Maud Miner gave a popular recitation of 
"Comedy Scenes from Shakespeare." It was 
noticed that in the very opening the Amphi- 
theater was filled; — what would it become at the 
height of the season, the first two weeks in August ? 

The Devotional Hour from July 6th to 12th 
was held by Dr. Charles F. Wishart, in a series of 
studies in the book of Exodus, entitled, "A Free 
People in the Making," and from the story he 
drew frequent applications to the history of 



WAR AND ITS AFTERMATH 353 

another "free people." During this week, Dr. 
Louis A. Weigle, Professor of Psychology at Yale 
University, began a course of lectures on "Char- 
acter Building in the Public Schools" suggesting 
many thoughts — not all of them gratulatory — in 
those who heard them. 

On Sunday morning, July 13th, the great 
congregation heard Dr. Wm. P. Merrill, of the 
Brick Church, New York, deliver a sermon on the 
topic as announced, ''The League of Nations," of 
which he declared himself unreservedly in favor. 
On this question there were two parties through- 
out the nation strongly opposed to each other and 
fiercely debating it, and when a fortnight later 
the chaplain. Bishop Williams, who was never 
known to sit on the fence, also came out vigor- 
ously for the League, Mr. Bestor began to look 
around for some speaker on the other side, for it 
has been a principle at Chautauqua to give both 
sides a fair showing, even when the Chautauqua 
constituency as a whole might be opposed to a 
speaker. A speaker against the League was found 
in Mr. John Ferguson, but he evidently repre- 
sented the sentiments of the minority. Among 
the speakers of the second week were several on 
"The Aftermath of the Great War," among them 

Dr. Katharine B. Davis, Major-General Bailey, 
23 



354 THE STORY OF CHAUTAUQUA 

who had been Commander of the Eighty-First 
Division of the A. E. F., and Attorney-General 
A. Mitchell Palmer. Prof. S. C. Schmucker also 
gave a course of lectures on "The Races of Man.*' 

Musical Festival Week was from July 28th 
to August 2nd. The New York Symphony 
Orchestra of sixty instruments was with us in 
concerts daily, led in the absence of its conductor, 
Mr. Walter Damrosch (who was abroad) by 
Rene PoUain of France. During this and the fol- 
lowing week Earl Barnes gave a course of lectures 
on "The New Nations of the World." We 
listened to a discussion of "Zionism," in a lecture 
on "Jewish Aims in Palestine" by Charles A. 
Co wen, of the Zionist organization, to which Mr. 
Earl Barnes gave a cool, dispassionate answer, 
showing the difficulty, amounting almost to an 
impossibility, of establishing a Jewish State in the 
land looked upon as holy, not only by Jews, but by 
Mohammedans and Christians of all the great 
churches. Another speaker in this symposium 
was Mme. Mabel S. Grouetch, the wife of the 
Serbian minister at Washington, who afterward 
became the Czecho-Slovak representative to Japan. 

Old First Night on August 5th was devoted to 
the Comprehensive Plan of lifting Chautauqua 
out of debt. The elements seemed against the aim 



WAR AND ITS AFTERMATH 355 

for rain kept some away, — though the Amphi- 
theater was full — and its thunder on the roof made 
some speeches inaudible. But it could not 
dampen the ardor of the people. Practically 
every organization, club, or class at Chautauqua, 
besides many individuals, made pledges. Besides 
the chorus, there was a children's choir in the 
gallery, and one gentleman offered to give a 
dollar for every child in it, whereupon scouts were 
sent out, boys and girls were gotten out of bed 
and brought to the gallery, so that his pledge 
cost that gentleman considerably over $300.00. 
Before the close of the Assembly $375,000 
had been subscribed, inclusive of Mr. Rocke- 
feller's quota. 

Americanization week was from August nth to 
1 6th, with timely addresses by Prof. Herbert 
Adolphin Miller, Prof. Thomas Moran, and a 
delightful lecture by Mrs. Beatrice Forbes-Robert- 
son Hale, on "Reconstruction in England and 
America." As a practical illustration of Ameri- 
canization, there was a wonderful pageant by the 
children of a public school in Pittsburgh, practi- 
cally all of foreign lineage. The Recognition 
address on August 20th was by Bishop Charles F. 
Brent, who after heroic work in the Philippines 
had been translated to the Episcopal diocese of 



356 THE STORY OF CHAUTAUQUA 

Western New York. His subject was **The 
Opportunities of the Mind." 

We must not forget that some lectures were 
given at this session by Dr. Charles A. Eastman, 
whose name does not suggest, as his complexion 
does, that he is a full-blooded Sioux Indian. He 
is a successful physician and a graduate of Dart- 
mouth College, — which, by the way, was estab- 
lished in 1750 as a school for Indians, with no 
thought of Anglo-Saxon students. This year also 
Dr. E. B. Bryan was unable to remain as Director 
of the Summer Schools, and his work was added to 
the many tasks of President Bestor. 

We come finally to the Assembly of 1920, the 
forty-seventh session, and at present the last upon 
our list, unless we undertake a prophetic look into 
the future. We met in sadness, for our great 
Founder John Heyl Vincent, who had lived to the 
age of eighty-eight years, died on Sunday, May 9th, 
at his home in Chicago. He had outlived his 
fellow-Founder, Lewis Miller, by twenty-one years. 
The two names stand together in the annals of 
Chautauqua and in the thoughts of all Chau- 
tauquans, for Chautauqua could not have been 
founded by either one without the other, and on 
Old First Night, for both together the lilies of the 
white handkerchiefs are silently and solemnly lifted, 



WAR AND ITS AFTERMATH 357 

and as silently and solemnly lowered. A memorial 
service was held for our beloved Bishop and Chan- 
cellor on Sunday afternoon, August ist, at the 
Vesper Hour, in the Hall of Philosophy as the 
appropriate place, and the writer of this story, 
as the oldest of living Chautauqua workers, was 
permitted to ojffer the tribute in his honor. In the 
evening another service was held in the Amphi- 
theater, at which Dr. John H. Finley, Superintend- 
ent of Education for New York State, and Bishop 
Herbert Welch of the Methodist Episcopal 
Church, home for a few months from his field in 
Korea and Japan, gave addresses. During the 
past year Chautauqua had sustained another loss 
in the death of Mr. Alfred Hallam, who for nearly 
twenty years had been the untiring and wholly 
devoted leader of the Musical Department. It 
was felt that a musical service was his most ap- 
propriate memorial, and the oratorio *'Hora 
Novissima," by Horatio Parker, was sung by the 
choir and soloists on Sunday evening, August 8th. 
During the session news came that Dr. Bethuel 
T. Vincent of Denver, long conductor of the 
Children's class and Intermediate class in the early 
years of the Assembly, had followed his brother 
the Bishop, into the silent land. He was remem- 
bered in an address by the writer at a memorial 



358 THE STORY OP CHAUTAUQUA 

service. His wife, Mrs. Ella Vincent, for many 
years president of the Woman's Club, in a few 
months also joined the company of the church 
triumphant. Another voice often heard at Chau- 
tauqua was stilled this summer, that of Mrs. 
Frank Beard, always bright and sunny in her 
spirit, who fell asleep in the cottage where she was 
abiding, soon after the opening of the Assembly, 
fulfilling the wish expressed to a friend a year 
before that she might die at Chautauqua. 

The most notable feature on the program this 
summer was the presence at Chautauqua for 
nearly six weeks, from July 26th to August 31st, of 
the New York Symphony Orchestra, with daily 
concerts, conducted by Rene PoUain and William 
Willeke, — a bold venture of the management but 
evidently successful. 

This was the tercentenary of the landing of the 
Pilgrims, and the event was recognized by several 
addresses, one in particular by Mr. Charles 
Zeublin, on " 1 620 and 1 920. ' ' Prof. Weigle gave a 
lecture on "Education of Children in Early New 
England"; Dr. Alfred E. Garvie spoke on **The 
Message of the Mayflower for To-day. ' ' Principal 
Alexander J. Grieve of the University of Edin- 
burgh gave lectures on the "Leaders of the Pil- 
grims, — ^John Robinson and others." 



WAR AND ITS AFTERMATH 359 

Dr. Herbert Adams Gibbons, after an experi- 
ence of years in Asia Minor and in France, gave a 
series of valuable lectures on "After the War," 
and Mrs. Gibbons narrated the thrilling story of 
herself in Turkey, during the massacres of 1908. 
Dr. Lynn Harold Hough was chaplain from July 
4th to July loth, and in the morning talks spoke 
on the spiritual experiences of St. Augustine, 
Martin Luther, and John Wesley, then summed 
them up in a conception of "The Christian 
Society.*' Prof. Richard Burton lectured in a 
course on "Modern Literary Tendencies," — the 
essay, the novel, the drama, and other forms of 
literature. One of the great acquisitions this year 
was Prof. T. R. Glover of Cambridge, England, with 
a course of lectures on "The Jesus of History," 
the results of the deepest study of the New Testa- 
ment and also of the contemporary Roman world. 
Dr. H. Gordon Hayes, just leaving Yale for the 
Ohio State University, discussed most ably "Fac- 
tors in Labor Unrest." On Roosevelt Day, July 
2 1st, Mrs. Douglas Robinson, his sister, gave 
"Recollections of Theodore Roosevelt." In the 
week from July 26th-3ist, the subject was "Prob- 
lems of the Present Day Civilization," discussed 
by Dr. E. H. Griggs, Rabbi Louis Wolsey of 
Cleveland, and Dr. Cornelius Woelfkin of New 



36o THE STORY OF CHAUTAUQUA 

York. "Woman and the New Era" was the 
theme of the week August 2d-7th, a discussion 
participated in by Mrs. Thomas G. Winter, Presi- 
dent of the General Federation of Woman's Clubs; 
by Mrs. George Bass, who was the woman, for the 
first time in history to preside for a day at the 
Democratic National Convention which renom- 
inated Woodrow Wilson; and by Miss Mary 
Garrett Hay, the President of the Affiliated 
Women's Republican Clubs. August 22d-29th 
was the week of the Ministers and Church Work- 
ers' Institute, with addresses by Bishop McDowell 
(Methodist), Ozora S. Davis, Shailer Mathews, 
Mrs. Helen Barrett Montgomery, and Chancellor 
S. B. McCormick, of Pittsburgh. 

This was a great year. Subscriptions to the 
Comprehensive Plan brought the amount up to 
$450,000, including Mr. Rockefeller's contribution, 
to be increased if other gifts warranted it. The 
Summer Schools were twenty-five per cent, in 
income and nearly twenty per cent, in numbers 
over 191 9, the highest mark of past years. Pro- 
vision was made for improving and enlarging the 
golf links, and for building a new club house on the 
grounds of the golf course. 



CHAPTER XXIV 

CHAUTAUQUA'S ELDER DAUGHTERS 

Chautauqua, planted upon the shore of its 
Lake, grew up a fruitful vine, and within two years 
shoots cut from its abundant branches began to 
take root in other soils. Or, to change the figure, 
the seeds of Chautauqua were borne by the winds 
to many places, some of them far away, and these 
grew up, in the course of little more than a gener- 
ation, a hundred, even a thousand fold. Many 
of these daughter-Chautauquas were organized by 
men— in some instances by women— who had 
caught the spirit of the mother-assembly ; others by 
those who had heard of the new movement and 
saw its possibilities; some, it must be confessed, by 
people who sought to save a decayed and debt- 
burdened camp meeting, and a few with lots to 
lease at a summer resort. From one cause or 
another, immediately after the first Assembly had 
won success, Dr. Vincent began to receive pressing 
invitations to organize similar institutions in many 
places. As he was already fulfilling the duties 

361 



362 THE STORY OF CHAUTAUQUA 

both of an editor and a secretary for the rapidly 
growing Sunday School cause, he could accept but 
few of these many calls. But a number of younger 
men trained by a year or two of experience in 
teaching at Chautauqua were around him and to 
these he directed most of the enquirers. At least 
three Assemblies arose in 1876, two years after 
the founding of Chautauqua. Of these I possess 
some knowledge and will therefore name them, 
but without doubt there were others which soon 
passed away and left scarcely a memory. 

So far as I have been able to ascertain, the first 
gathering to follow in the footsteps of Chautauqua 
was the Sunday School Parliament on Wellesley 
Island, one of those romantic Thousand Islands in 
the St. Lawrence River, where it emerges from 
Lake Ontario. This island stands on the boundary 
line between the United States and Canada, but 
the home of the Parliament was on the Canadian 
side of the line. The name "Chautauqua" has 
now become generic and almost any gathering in 
the interests of the Sunday School, or of general 
literature with a sprinkling of entertainment, is apt 
to be named * ' a Chautauqua. * * But in those early 
days the word Chautauqua was not known as the 
general term of an institution of the assembly type, 
and the new gatherings were named "Congress" or 



CHAUTAUQUA'S ELDER DAUGHTERS 363 

** Encampment" or "Institute," and for this 
gathering the title "Sunday School Parliament" 
was taken, as smacking somewhat of English origin. 
Its organizer and conductor was the Rev. Wilbur 
F. Crafts, at that time a Methodist minister, 
afterwards a Congregationalist, and still at present 
working as the head of the International Reform 
Bureau in Washington, D. C. He was aided in the 
plan and direction by Mrs. Crafts, for both of them 
were then prominent leaders in Sunday School 
work. It was my good fortune to be present and 
conduct the Normal Class during a part of the time. 
As compared with Chautauqua, the Parliament 
was small, but its spirit was true to the Chau- 
tauqua ideal and it was maintained faithfully for 
ten or twelve years. The place had been estab- 
lished as a camp-meeting ground, but it shared 
the fate of many camp meetings in gradually 
growing into a summer resort for people in general. 
As cottages and cottagers increased the Chautau- 
qua interest declined, and finally the attempt 
to maintain classes and meetings after the Chau- 
tauqua pattern was abandoned, and the island 
took its place among the summer colonies in that 
wonderful group. 

The same year, 1876, saw another campground 
becoming a Chautauqua Assembly,— at Petoskey, 



364 THE STORY OF CHAUTAUQUA 

near the northern end of Lake Michigan. Here a 
beautiful tract of woodland, rising in a series of 
terraces from Little Traverse Bay, about forty 
miles south of the Straits of Mackinac, had 
been obtained by a Methodist camp-meeting 
association, and laid out in roads forming a series 
of concentric circles. Here the first Bay View 
Assembly was held in 1876, and again in its scope 
were combined the camp meeting, the summer 
home, and the Chautauqua conception, three 
divergent aims that have rarely worked well 
together. It will be remembered that on its land 
side the original Chautauqua was shut off from 
the outer world by a high fence, and everybody 
was compelled to enter the ground through a 
gate, at which a ticket must be purchased. At 
Bay View, as at most camp-meeting grounds, 
access was open on every side. At first they 
undertook to support the Assembly by collections, 
but the receipts proved inadequate, and they 
placed a ticket window at each lecture hall and 
endeavored to induce the cottagers to purchase 
season tickets, a plan which has been pursued 
down to the present time. One of the founders of 
Bay View, perhaps the one who suggested it, was 
Dr. Wm. H. Perrine, an ardent and intelligent 
Chautauquan, the rebuilder of Palestine Park. 



CHAUTAUQUA'S ELDER DAUGHTERS 365 

Other men came to the aid of the Bay View 
Assembly, some of them men of means, who gave 
liberally in the form of buildings, an organ, and to 
some extent an endowment. One of these was Mr. 
Horace Hitchcock of Detroit, another was John 
M. Hall, who organized the Bay View Reading 
Course, analagous to the C. L. S. C, and by his 
personal endeavor built up a reading and book- 
buying constituency. I was present at the 
second session in 1877, when it was a handful of 
people in a wilderness, and again thirty years 
later, when I found a beautiful city of homes in 
the forest, rising terrace above terrace, with good 
roads, fine public buildings, and a body of people 
interested in the best thought of the time. Chau- 
tauqua points with pleasure and pride to her oldest 
living daughter, the Bay View Assembly. 

Mention should be made here of an Assembly 
established at Clear Lake, beside a beautiful 
sheet of water in northern Iowa, nearly midway 
between the Mississippi and Missouri Rivers. It 
was organized in 1876, with the Rev. J. R. Berry 
as superintendent. For some years, beginning 
in 1879, it was under the direction of the Rev. J. A. 
Worden, who, like some others of us, had learned 
the Assembly trade in apprenticeship to Dr. 
Vincent at Chautauqua. For ten years Clear 



366 THE STORY OF CHAUTAUQUA 

Lake was fairly prosperous, but in time it met 
the fate of most assemblies and dropped out of 
existence. 

During the year 1877 three more Assemblies 
arose, one of which remains to this day in prosper- 
ity, while the two others soon passed away. The 
successful institution was at Lakeside, Ohio. Like 
many others, it was grafted upon a camp meeting 
which had been established some years before, 
but was declining in its interest and attendance. 
The name ** Encampment" was chosen as an easy 
departure from its original sphere, but after a few 
years the name "Assembly," by this time becom- 
ing general, was assumed. The first meeting as 
a Sunday School gathering on the Chautauqua plan 
was held in 1877, with the Rev. James A. Worden, 
who had assisted Dr. Vincent for three years in the 
normal work at Chautauqua, as its conductor. 
Afterward Dr. B. T. Vincent was in charge for a 
number of seasons, and one year, 1882, Dr. John 
H. Vincent was superintendent. For many years 
all the Chautauqua features were kept prominent, 
the Normal Department, with a systematic course, 
examinations, and an Alumni Association; the 
C. L. S. C. with recognition services, Round 
Tables, camp fires, the four Arches, and all the 
accessories. Lakeside drew around it helpers 



CHAUTAUQUA'S ELDER DAUGHTERS 367 

and liberal givers, and still stands in strength. 
Lakeside has the benefit of a delightful location, on 
a wooded peninsula jutting into Lake Erie, near 
Sandusky City, and in sight of Put-in-Bay, famous 
in American history for Commodore Perry's naval 
victory in the War of 1812. It still maintains lec- 
ture courses and classes in the midst of a summer- 
home community. 

Another Assembly began in 1877, with high 
expectations, at Lake Bluff overlooking Lake 
Michigan, thirty-five miles north of Chicago. It 
was confidently supposed that on a direct railroad 
line from the great city, Lake Bluff would draw 
large audiences, and Dr. Vincent was engaged to 
organize and conduct an Assembly upon the 
Chautauqua plan, with lecturers and workers from 
that headquarters. A strong program was pre- 
pared for the opening session. Among the 
lecturers was the Rev. Joseph Cook, at that time 
one of the most prominent and popular speakers 
in the land. I recall in one of his lectures at Lake 
Bluff a sentence, wholly unpremeditated, which 
thrilled the audience and has always seemed to me 
one of the most eloquent utterances I have ever 
heard. It was twelve years after the Civil War, 
and on our way to the Assembly we passed the 
marble monument crowned with the statue of 



368 THE STORY OF CHAUTAUQUA 

Stephen A. Douglas, the competitor of Lincoln 
for the Senatorship and Presidency, but after the 
opening of the war his loyal supporter for the few 
months before his death. Dr. Cook was giving 
a history of the forces in the nation which brought 
on the secession of the Southern States. He 
referred to Daniel Webster in the highest praise, 
declaring that his compromise measures, such as 
the Fugitive Slave Law, were dictated by a su- 
preme love for the Union, which if preserved would 
in time have made an end of slavery, and he added 
a sentence of which this is the substance. 

Had it been given to Daniel Webster, as it was 
given to Edward Everett, to live until the guns were 
fired upon Fort Sumter, there would have been an end 
of compromise. He would have stamped that mighty 
foot with a sound that would have rung throughout 
the land, have called forth a million men, and might 
have averted the war! 

Just then a voice rang out from one of the seats 
— ^*'As Douglas did!" Joseph Cook paused a 
moment. His chest swelled as he drew in a breath, 
and then looking at the man who had interrupted 
him, he spoke in that powerful voice: 

The firmament above the massive brow of Daniel 
Webster was a vaster arch than that over the narrow 



CHAUTAUQUA'S ELDER DAUGHTERS 369 

forehead of Stephen A. Douglas, and the lightning 
that rent the clouds from the dying face of one, 
would never have been needed to bring daylight 
to the other! 

I was seated beside the Rev. Charles F. Deems 
of New York, a Southerner by birth and in his 
sympathies through the then recent war. He 
turned to me and said: "That was the most 
magnificent sentence that I have ever heard!" 
There was a moment of silence, and then a burst 
of applause from the audience. 

The Lake Bluff Assembly never drew a large 
patronage, as no Chautauqua Assembly ever has 
which depended upon a great city whose inhabi- 
tants can hear the famous preachers and orators. 
The successful Assemblies have been located in 
fairly large towns, with villages and small cities 
surrounding, near enough to reach the Assembly, 
but so distant that to enjoy its benefits the visitors 
must stay more than one day. The support of a 
Chautauqua Assembly of the higher grade comes 
not mainly from the one-day excursionists, but 
from those who plan to enter the classes and 
remain at least a fortnight. These patrons con- 
stitute the backbone of the institution, and without 
them the transitory crowds soon lose their interest 

and the Assembly declines. Lake Bluff main- 

24 



370 THE STORY OF CHAUTAUQUA 

tained an existence for ten or twelve years, but 
never obtained an extensive constituency. 

The year 1878 was noteworthy in the establish- 
ment of two Assemblies, one still living after more 
than forty years, the other one of the largest, most 
steadfast in fidelity to the Chautauqua ideal, and 
most extended in its influence. The first of these 
was the Round Lake Assembly, at a camp ground 
near Saratoga in New York. We have narrated 
elsewhere (see page 44) the story of the ** praying 
band leader" who undertook to hold a little meet- 
ing of his own at Chautauqua, and when called to 
order left in disgust, but later showed his manly 
spirit by asking Dr. Vincent to organize an Assem- 
bly on the Chautauqua plan on the grounds at 
Round Lake, of which camp meeting he was 
President. This Assembly began in 1878, and is 
still maintained both as a summer school, a camp 
meeting, and a Sunday School training institution. 
It was opened according to the Chautauqua pat- 
tern, with an evening of short speeches, of which 
some at least were supposed to blend humor with 
sense. Frank Beard was on the platform, and was 
expected to be the wit of the evening. To the 
blank perplexity of all, he made a serious speech, 
without a solitary funny allusion. The audience 
did not know whether to laugh or to look solemn, 



CHAUTAUQUA'S ELDER DAUGHTERS 371 

as he talked on, and at last brought us all "before 
the great white throne." The next morning at 
breakfast — ^for all the imported workers took our 
meals at one table in the Round Lake Hotel — Dr. 
Vincent freed his mind to Frank Beard, somewhat 
after this fashion : 

Now, Frank, I want you to understand that we 
bring you here to brighten up the program with a 
little fun. We don*t need you to make serious 
speeches; there are plenty of men to do that; I can do 
it myself, a great deal better than you can. To-night 
I'm going to give you another chance, and I expect 
you to rise to the occasion with something to laugh at. 

So, before the evening lecture, Dr. Vincent 
announced that Mr. Beard wished to say a few 
words. This was something of what he said : 

Dr. Vincent, he didn't like the speech I made last 
night. He told me this morning before all these 
fellers that it was too eloquent, and he said, "Mr. 
Beard, when you are eloquent you take the shine off 
from me, and these other men, and you mustn't do 
it. If there is any eloquence needed, I will do it 
myself, and you mustn't interfere with the regular 
program." 

Then he went on, in his usual way, using some 
of the dear old jokes that some of us had heard at 
Chautauqua, but polished up for a new con- 
stituency. Everybody saw that he was guying the 



372 THE STORY OF CHAUTAUQUA 

doctor, but there was a group of us present who 
knew just how Frank was twisting the breakfast 
talk of the Superintendent of Instruction. 

On the shore of Round Lake, near the Assembly 
ground, a copy of Palestine Park had been con- 
structed, and daily lectures were given there. It 
was just a few feet larger than the Park at Chau- 
tauqua, as we were informed by the President. 
Let me correct the report that a big Methodist 
bishop arriving late one night, and enquiring 
the way to the hotel, fell into the clutches of the 
most mischievous small boy in the region, who told 
him: 

"The gates are all shut and you'll have to climb 
the fence yonder." 

He did so, according to the story, and fell from 
the top of the fence into the Dead Sea, which at 
once swelled its waters and washed away the city of 
Jericho. The eminent divine, it is said, drenched 
with water and spattered with mud, walked up the 
Jordan Valley and over the mountains of Ephraim, 
destroying the cities and obliterating sundry holy 
places; one foot caught in Jacob's Well, and his 
head bumped on Mount Gerizim. He reached the 
hotel at last, but the next morning showed the land 
of Palestine in worse ruin than had been wrought 
by Nebuchadnezzar's army. All this I, myself, 



CHAUTAUQUA'S ELDER DAUGHTERS 373 

read in a New York newspaper that is said to 
contain "All the news that is fit to print"; but 
I here and now declare solemnly that there is not a 
shred of truth in the story, for I saw the Bishop, 
and I saw the Park ! 

The Round Lake meetings are held to this day, 
courses of lectures are given, and classes are held. 
But the Park of Palestine, which was to surpass 
Chautauqua's Park, is no more. It was built on 
swampy ground, after a few years sank under the 
encroaching waters of the lake, and was never 
restored. 

The other institution founded in 1878 was the 
Kansas Chautauqua Assembly. It was organized 
by the Rev. J. E. Gilbert, then a pastor of a 
Methodist Church in Topeka, who was an active 
Sunday School worker and started other assem- 
blies during his different pastorates in the Middle 
West. It was held for three years at Lawrence, 
then at Topeka for two years, and finally in 1883 
located at Ottawa, about fifty miles southwest 
from Kansas City. Most of the Assemblies al- 
ready named were held upon camp grounds, but 
the Ottawa Assembly was unique in its location 
upon the large Forest Park just outside the city, 
leased for this purpose by the authorities. Being 
public property, no cottages could be built upon it, 



374 THE STORY OF CHAUTAUQUA 

but a city of three hundred tents arose every 
summer, and after a fortnight were folded and 
taken away. For nearly twenty years this As- 
sembly was under the direction of the writer, 
and in every respect followed the lines laid down 
by its parent Chautauqua. Buildings were put 
up for classes, which served as well for the annual 
agricultural fair in the fall. In our first year at 
Ottawa, our normal class was held out of doors, 
the members seated upon the unroofed grand stand 
of the Park, and I was teaching them with the aid 
of a blackboard. Clouds began to gather rapidly 
and a storm seemed to be in prospect. I paused 
in the lesson and said : 

"I am somewhat of a stranger here — how long 
does it take a thunder storm to arrive?" 

"About two minutes!" responded a voice from 
the seats ; and instantly there came a rush to cover, 
leaving the history of the Bible to care for itself. 
We were just in time, for a minute later it was 
blowing a hurricane, bending the great trees and 
breaking their branches. I had heard of Kansas 
cyclones, had been shown a *' cyclone cellar," and 
only the day before had taken dinner in a house of 
which one end had been blown clean off by a 
cyclone. As we stood in a building which we had 
named "Normal Hall," I asked a lady by the 



CHAUTAUQUA'S ELDER DAUGHTERS 375 

window, ''Is this a cyclone?" She glanced with- 
out and then calmly said: "No, this is a straight 
wind." 

In ten minutes the tornado was over and we 
reassembled for the lesson. Kansas people seemed 
to accept occurrences like this as all in the day's 
work. One weather-story of Kansas reminds of 
another. On my first visit to that State in 1882, 
the last year of the Assembly at Topeka, I was 
standing in front of the hotel, thinking of the 
historic events in Kansas, — where the Civil War 
actually began, though unrealized at the time, — 
when I saw nearby a rather rough looking, bearded 
individual. Thinking that he might be one of the 
pioneers, with a story to tell of the early days, I 
stepped up and began in the conventional way by 
remarking : 

"I don't think it's going to rain." 

He looked me over and responded : 

"Wal, strangers from the East think they know 
when it's goin' to rain and when it ain't ; but us 
fellers who've lived in Kansas thirty years never 
know whether it'll rain in five minutes or whether 
it won't rain in three months." 

The Ottawa Assembly was one of the best in the 
Chautauqua system. The people of the city built 
for its use a large tabernacle and halls for classes. 



376 THE STORY OF CHAUTAUQUA 

Beside the park flows the River Marais du Cygne, 
''the Swamp of the Swan," celebrated in one of 
Whittier's poems; and on a bank overlooking the 
river was erected a Hall of Philosophy, copying the 
old Hall at Chautauqua, except that its columns 
were lighter and ornamented, improving its 
appearance. We followed the Chautauqua pro- 
grams as far as possible, having many of the same 
speakers on our platform and Professor Sherwin to 
lead the music, succeeded later by Dr. H. R. Pal- 
mer. The teacher-training work, then called the 
Normal Class, was maintained thoroughly, with 
adult, intermediate, and children's classes, — all 
wearing badges and following banners. The C. L. 
S. C, with all its usages of camp fires. Recognition 
Day, vigil, procession and arches, was kept 
prominent. We established a Chautauqua Boys' 
Club, and Girls' Club also. We could not conduct 
a stimmer school, as the meeting lasted only a 
fortnight, but we had lecture courses of high 
character upon literature. Kansas contained 
more old soldiers in its population than any other 
State in the Union, and the Grand Army Day at 
Ottawa was an event of State-wide interest. Some 
distinguished veterans spoke on these occasions, 
among them General John A. Logan, Major 
William McKinley, and General John B. Gordon 



CHAUTAUQUA'S ELDER DAUGHTERS 377 

of the Confederate Army; also Private A. J. 
Palmer of New York, whose "Company D, the 
Die-No-Mores," roused enthusiasm to its summit. 
One element in Ottawa's success was the steadfast 
loyalty of the city, — a place then of seven or eight 
thousand people, which enjoyed a special prohibi- 
tory law some years earlier than the rest of the 
State. Almost every family had its tent in Forest 
Park and lived there day and night during the 
fortnight of the meetings. Another cause of its 
prosperity was its able, broad, and continuous 
management. Its President for many years was 
the Rev. Duncan C. Milner, a Chautauquan from 
his boots up to his head, and laboring with untiring 
energy in its behalf. 

I must tell an amusing story of our camp fire one 
simimer. As the ground was by this time well 
occupied, we decided to have the bonfire on a raft 
out in the stream, while the crowd sang the songs 
and listened to the speeches from the Hall of 
Philosophy on the shore. But when we met at 
night for the services, the raft and the materials 
ready for lighting had disappeared ! We were told 
that the janitor had thought it an improvement to 
have the fire lighted above, in a bend of the river, 
and float down to the Hall. We waited, not 
exactly pleased with the janitor's unauthorized 



378 THE STORY OF CHAUTAUQUA 

action, and after a time we heard a mighty racket. 
The raft with the bonfire was floating down the 
stream, while around it was a convoy of about a 
hundred boats, loaded with boys, and each boy 
blowing a horn or yelling in the most vociferous 
manner. That put an end to any prospect of 
songs and speeches, for who could command silence 
to such a din? But that was not all nor the worst. 
The janitor tried in vain to anchor his raft, but 
it still floated downward. We saw our camp fire 
sail majestically down the river, until it ap- 
proached the mill dam and the falls, when the 
boys desperately rowed their boats out of danger. 
Raft and contents went over the falls and the bon- 
fire was quenched in the devouring flood. As we 
saw it going to its doom, I distinctly heard the 
word **dam" spoken, and I fear it was intended to 
include a final " n. " But that was the last attempt 
at a camp fire. When I proposed one at the next 
season, the entire Round Table burst out with a 
roaring laugh. 

The success of Ottawa led to the opening of 
many other Assemblies all over the State, and by 
degrees weakened this, the mother Chautauqua of 
Kansas. It is still maintained, but in a small way, 
as one of the chain Chautauquas. 

In 1879, a Sunday School Congress which soon 



CHAUTAUQUA'S ELDER DAUGHTERS 379 

grew into an Assembly was held at Ocean Grove, 
on the Atlantic Coast, almost the only place where 
the camp meeting, the summer resort, and the Chau- 
tauqua idea have lived together in mutual peace and 
prosperity. But even at Ocean Grove the Assembly 
has been overshadowed, almost out of sight, by the 
camp meeting and the summer boarding-house con- 
tingent. For several seasons I took part in the 
work, and in 1 881 conducted the Children's Class. 
On the next to the last day I told all the children 
to meet me at our chapel, naming the hour when 
the tide would be at its lowest, every child to 
bring a pail and shovel, or a shingle, if his shovel 
had been lost. We formed a goodly procession of 
three hundred, marching down the avenue, myself 
at the head. At the beach I had selected a suit- 
able area, and set the children to constructing 
out of the damp sand a model two himdred feet 
long of Palestine, the land of which we had been 
studying in the daily class. It was a sight to see 
those young nation builders, making the coastline, 
piling up the mountains, and digging out the 
Jordan valley with its lakes. Some Biblically in- 
clined gentlemen aided in the supervision, and ap- 
parently a thousand people stood above and 
looked on. When it was finished I walked up and 
down the model, asking the children questions 



38o THE STORY OF CHAUTAUQUA 

upon it, and was somewhat surprised to find how 
much they knew. Some whose conduct in the 
class gave little promise were among the promptest 
to exploit their knowledge. It was my purpose to 
leave the map that it might be seen by the multi- 
tude until the tide should wash it away. But the 
boys shouted, "Can't we stamp it down now?" 
and I rather reluctantly consented. Palestine has 
been overrun, and trodden down, and destroyed by 
armies of Assyrians, Babylonians, Turks, Cru- 
saders, and many other warriors, but the land never 
suffered such a treading down by the Gentiles as on 
that morning at Ocean Grove. 

In the year 1879, the wind-wafted seed of 
Chautauqua was borne to the Pacific Coast and an 
Assembly was founded at Pacific Grove in Monte- 
rey, California. I know not whether it remains, 
but the Grove has been the place of meeting for the 
California Methodist Conference year after year. 
Another Assembly combined with the summer 
resort was established this year at Mountain Lake 
in Maryland, a charming spot, whose elevation 
beside a lovely lake brings coolness to the summer 
air. 

One more Assembly established in 1879 must not 
be forgotten. In the early years of Chautauqua 
we used to see a plainly clad man, who from his 



CHAUTAUQUA'S ELDER DAUGHTERS 381 

appearance might have been a farmer or a lumber- 
man ; in fact, he was the proprietor of a large saw 
and planing mill. This man was at every meeting, 
listened intently and took full notes, for he was 
intelligent, reading good books, and ardent in his 
devotion to Chautauqua. For years he was one of 
my friends, but, alas ! I have forgotten his name. 
He lived in Northern Indiana, and in 1879 was 
able to interest enough people to start an Assembly 
at Island Park at Rome City, Indiana, not far 
from the Michigan line. He became its Secretary, 
managed its finances, and called upon the Rev. A. H. 
Gillet, one of Dr. Vincent's lieutenants, to conduct 
it. For many years Island Park was one of the 
foremost children of Chautauqua in its program 
and its attendance. It was situated upon an 
island in a lovely lake, with bridges leading to the 
mainland, where most of the tents and cottages 
were placed, and where buildings were erected for 
the normal classes and the kindergarten; the 
Tabernacle, seating 2500, being upon the island 
which was bright with flower beds amid winding 
paths. For years Island Park was a center of 
Chautauqua influence and strong in promoting 
the C. L. S. C, but like many other Assemblies, 
it failed to receive financial support and was 
abandoned. 



382 THE STORY OF CHAUTAUQUA 

Two great Assemblies, both closely following the 
path of Chautauqua, were founded in the year 
1880. One of these was Monona Lake, near Madi- 
son, Wis. It was established by the State Sunday 
School Association, its founder and first president 
being the Hon. Elihu Colman of Fond du Lac. 
Like Ottawa in Kansas, it was an assembly of 
tents, not of cottages. The first session, a small 
gathering, was held in 1880 on the shores of Green 
Lake, one of the five himdred lakes of Wisconsin ; 
but in the following year it was removed to Monona 
Lake, one of the five surrounding the capital city, 
Madison. After Mr. Colman, the Rev. F. S. Stein, 
D.D., became President, and for nearly a gener- 
ation, Mr. Moseley, a bookseller of Madison, was 
its efficient secretary, business manager, and organ- 
izer of its programs. The standards of Monona 
Lake were high and its work was thorough, but 
for lack of adequate support, it was given up after 
nearly thirty years of usefulness and the point 
became an amusement park. 

Among those prominent in the early seasons 
at Monona Lake was the Rev. O. P. Bestor, who 
was active in promoting the C. L. S. C. He 
brought with him his son, who began as a small boy 
attending the Assembly, and formed the assembly- 
habit so strongly that in the after years he grew 



CHAUTAUQUA'S ELDER DAUGHTERS 383 

up to be the President of the Chautauqua Institu- 
tion — ^Albert E. Bestor, LL.D. 

The other notable Chautauqua started in 1880 
was the New England Assembly at South Fram- 
ingham, Mass., originally in closer affiliation with 
the original Chautauqua than any other Assembly, 
for it chose Dr. Vincent as Superintendent of 
Instruction, and many of its speakers were also on 
the Chautauqua program. It drew from all the 
New England States, until its success led to the 
establishment of other Assemblies at Fryeburg, 
Maine, at Northampton, Mass., and at Plain ville. 
Conn. One of Dr. Vincent's assistants at the 
Framingham Assembly was the Dr. A. E. Dunning, 
at first Congregational Secretary of Sunday 
School work, later Editor of the Congregationalist. 
Dr. Vincent, after a few years, gave the Assembly 
into the hands of Dr. Dunning and the writer, and 
sometimes we conducted it jointly ; at other times 
in successive years. On an eminence overlooking 
the grounds and the adjoining lake arose another 
Hall of Philosophy, like the one at Chautauqua, and 
all the Chautauqua customs were followed — C. L. 
S. C, Normal Class, Children's Classes, and the 
rest. The first President was the Rev. William 
R. Clark, who was instrumental in locating the 
Assembly upon the ground of a camp meeting 



384 THE STORY OF CHAUTAUQUA 

which it succeeded. It was continued for more 
than a generation, but at last succumbed to chang- 
ing times. Perhaps it might have continued longer, 
if throughout its history it had not been encum- 
bered by the debts of the former Camp Meeting 
Association. 

Our chapter has already grown beyond bounds. 
We would like to tell the stories of Monteagle, 
Tennessee, of Mount Dora, Florida, of De Funiak 
Springs, also in Florida, of the Arkansas and Dakota 
and Southern California Assemblies. In fifteen 
years after Chautauqua began there were nearly a 
hundred Assemblies, each independent of all the 
others, yet all in friendly relation to the oldest 
and greatest of them all, the mother, — Chautauqua 
by the Lake. 



CHAPTER XXV 

YOUNGER DAUGHTERS OF CHAUTAUQUA 

We have seen how Chautauquas sprung up 
throughout the land, inspired by the example of 
the original Assembly beside the lake. All these 
were independent, arranging their own programs 
and securing their own speakers. Chautauqua 
never took a copyright upon the name or a patent 
for the idea. It was natural, however, for many 
of these Assemblies to combine their interests, for 
it soon found that half a dozen Chautauquas in 
the same section could save expenses by employing 
the same group of speakers and passing them on 
from one gathering to another. There were al- 
ready lyceum bureaus offering lecturers and en- 
tertainers. At first the Assemblies secured a few 
of their speakers from these offices, and after a few 
years their entire programs were arranged in 
conjunction with the bureaus. Finally the lyceum 
agencies began to organize and conduct assem- 
blies directly, and thus the Chautauqua circuit or 
the system of a Chautauqua chain was developed. 
2s 385 



386 THE STORY OF CHAUTAUQUA 

One office in Chicago, the Redpath Bureau, is said 
to conduct three thousand Chautauqua assem- 
blies every year, others have charge of a thousand 
apiece, while there are lesser chains of fifty, twenty- 
five or a dozen assemblies. I have been officially 
informed that in the year 191 9, ten thousand 
chain Chautauquas were held in the United States 
and Canada. They are to be found everywhere, 
but their most popular field is in the Middle West, 
where "the Chautauqua" is expected every year 
by the farming communities. These bureaus and 
the ''talent" which they employ have been com- 
bined in an organization for mutual interest, to 
avoid reduplication in the same locality, to secure 
their workers and arrange their programs. This 
is narned the International Lyceum and Chautau- 
qua Association, holding an annual convention at 
which the organizers and the participants upon 
the programs come face to face and form their 
engagements. The circuit system has arisen 
largely through economic causes; the saving of 
expense by efficient organization, the elimination 
of long railroad jumps from Assembly to Assembly, 
guarantee of continuous engagement to attractive 
speakers, better publicity, and the concentration of 
responsibility. It is found that the most success- 
ful Chautauquas are held, not in cities, nor even 



YOUNGER DAUGHTERS 387 

in large towns, but in the smaller places. The 
town of a thousand, or even one as small as five 
hundred inhabitants, during its annual Chautau- 
qua week will rally from the farms and hamlets 
two thousand people to hear a popular lecture, 
five or seven thousand during the week. In each 
place an advance agent appears, interviews the 
business men, the ministers, and the heads of any 
clubs or improvement societies, and obtains 
pledges of support by the sale of a definite number 
of tickets. College boys make up the tent crews; 
a Scout Master organizes the Boy Scouts; and 
trained experts arrange for the advertising. The 
*' morning-hour men" give lectures in courses of 
uplifting nature on civic and national questions; 
the popular features of the program are supplied 
by entertainers, musical troupes, bands, artists, and 
dramatic companies. It is a fact of deeper signif- 
icance than many recognize that political leaders 
find here the greatest forum for their messages. 
Many of these orators receive more than fees for 
their speeches; they come near the heart of the 
people, they reach their constituencies and dis- 
seminate their views more widely than through 
any other agency. Some political reformers have 
won not only prominence, but power through 
these chain Chautauquas. 



388 THE STORY OF CHAUTAUQUA 

It may be remembered that while the Hon. 
WilHam Jennings Bryan was Secretary of State he 
received some criticism and even ridicule for "hit- 
ting the Chautauqua trail" and "going off with 
the yodelers." On that subject the Baltimore 
Sun said in an editorial : 

If it could be demonstrated, we would be willing 
to wager that the average Chautauqua student has 
a far better knowledge of public questions than the 
average of those who sneer. And whether he likes 
it or not, no public official of to-day can afford to 
disregard the Chautauqua movement. 

Mr. Bryan himself gave this testimony in the 
Review of Reviews: 

The Chautauqua affords one of the best oppor- 
tunities now presented a public speaker for the dis- 
cussion of questions of interest to the people. The 
audience is a select one, always composed of the 
thoughtful element in the community, and as they pay 
admission, they stay to hear. I believe that a con- 
siderable part of the progress that is now being made 
along the line of moral and political reform is traceable 
to the influence of the Chautauqua. 

A writer in The Outlook (September i8, 191 8) 

says : 

I have studied the Chautauqua speakers. They 
command the admiration of the honest critic. They 
deal with serious subjects as experts. They carry 
men, women and children on to the conclusion of 



YOUNGER DAUGHTERS 389 

the longest lecture by knowing when to lighten at 
the proper moment with a story or a lilt of humor, or 
sometimes a local reference. Said a village woman in 
my hearing of a fellow-speaker on the problems of 
patriotism, "I thought at first he would be hard to 
follow, but I surely hated when he had to stop." 
The thermometer was reported to be 105° in the tent. 
The speaker held the rapt attention of the people for 
an hour and a half in a philosophical presentation of 
the causes of the war and our responsibilities in con- 
sequence. It was like reading a solid book and 
condensing it with marked success into one hearing. 
It was typical, and twenty millions are reported to be 
listening to such addresses in Chautauqua tents the 
country over. 

In the magazine The World To-Day (September, 
191 1), I read the following by George L. Flude: 

A few years ago I saw Senator Robert M. La 
Follette address a crowd of eight thousand people at 
Waterloo, Iowa. For two hours and a half he jammed 
insurgent Republicanism into that crowd. He was 
at that time the only insurgent in the party and had 
not been named yet. The crowd took it all in. They 
were there to be instructed, not to hear a partisan 
speech. Hence their attitude, regardless of party 
affiliation, was a receptive one. He absolutely con- 
verted that crowd into insurgents and they did not 
know it. For five years La Follette crammed and 
jammed '* non-partisan" talks into Chautauqua 
crowds through Iowa, Illinois, Missouri, Ohio, Ne- 
braska, and Kansas. The average audience was prob- 



390 THE STORY OF CHAUTAUQUA 

ably about four thousand and he met sixty or more 
audiences each summer; 240,000 people inoculated 
with insurgency by one man. 

Occasionally an audience finds that the lecture 
is not what was looked for. Some years ago a 
Western Assembly engaged Senator La FoUette, 
and from the list of his subjects chose *'The 
World's Greatest Tragedy," expecting a sensa- 
tional attack upon the greed of capitalists. 
A great crowd assembled to see "Senator Bob 
jump on the trusts." He gave his well-known 
literary lecture on Hamlet, a critical appreciation, 
without a word on current affairs. The crowd 
sat, first puzzled, then baffled, and at last went 
away dejected. 

A newspaper of wide circulation, The Christian 
Science Monitor, said: 

By far the most active and keenly interested voters 
of the country, with their leaders, forceful in shaping 
progressive legislation, have come during the last 
decade from States where this Chautauqua method of 
cultivation of the adult population has been most 
steadily used, and the end is not yet, since now the 
system is being organized in a thorough-going way 
never known before. Public men, educators, artists, 
authors, pioneers in discovery of unknown lands or 
of secrets of nature, who get the ear of this huge 
audience season after season, come nearer to the heart 



YOUNGER DAUGHTERS 391 

of the nation and observe its ways of living better 
than by any other method. 

The old mother Chautauqua by the Lake would 
not like to be held responsible for all the utterances 
under the tents of her ten thousand daughters. 
For that matter, she would not endorse every- 
thing spoken upon her own platform in the Amphi- 
theater, where "free speech" is the motto and the 
most contradictory opinions are presented. But 
she must recognize that her daughters have wielded 
a mighty power in forming the political and moral 
convictions of the nation. 

The bell which rang at Fair Point on August 4, 
1874, ^o open the first Assembly, might be com- 
pared to "The shot heard 'round the world" from 
Concord Bridge in 1775, for in answer to its call 
ten thousand Chautauquas have arisen on the 
American Continent. The question might be 
asked, Why have none of the ten thousand rivaled 
the first, the original Chautauqua ? 

Many of these opened with a far better outfit 
of external accommodations, with more money 
expended upon their programs, with greater ad- 
vertising publicity, with more popular attrac- 
tions. Yet now at the period of almost fifty years, 
not another among the ten thousand, either of 
the earlier or the later Assemblies, holds a two 



392 THE STORY OF CHAUTAUQUA 

months' program, conducts courses of study of a 
wide range, or brings together even one quarter of 
the assemblage which every year gathers upon the 
old Chautauqua ground. All the assemblies which 
were established with the highest promise have 
either been abandoned or are continued as chain 
Chautauquas, meeting for a week only. Let us 
endeavor to answer the question — Why does the 
mother-Chautauqua still stand supreme? 

In the judgment of this writer, who has known 
Chautauqua almost from the beginning, and has 
taken part in fifty similar gatherings, the reasons 
for its supremacy are easily seen and stated. It 
was established by two men of vision, one of whom 
was also a practical man of business, and both men 
of high ideals which they never lowered and from 
which they and their successors have never 
swerved. In its plans from first to last, there was 
a unique blending of religion, education, and 
recreation. No one of these three elements has 
been permitted to override the two others, and 
neither of them has been sacrificed to win popu- 
larity, although on the other side, popular 
features have been sought for within just limits. 
Never has the aim of Chautauqua been to make 
money; it has had no dividends and no stock- 
holders. It has opened avenues and leased lots 



YOUNGER DAUGHTERS 393 

to hundreds of people, but it has not sought finan- 
cial gain. Neither of its Founders nor any of 
their associates have been enriched by it, for all 
profits — when there have been any — have been 
expended upon improvements or enlargement of 
plans. It has shown the progressive spirit, while 
firm in its principles, open to new ideas, willing to 
listen to both sides of every question. It has 
sought to attract and to benefit all classes in the 
community, not setting the poor against the rich, 
nor the rich against the poor, giving a welcome to 
scholars of every view and to churches of every 
doctrine. It has maintained a continuous, con- 
sistent administration, fortunate in finding able 
and broad-minded men to carry forward the con- 
ceptions of its founders. Few changes have been 
made in its management and these have been 
without a revolution or a renunciation of prin- 
ciples. Men at the head have changed, but not 
the policy of the institution. It has remained 
unshaken in its loyalty to the Christian religion 
and penetrated through and through with the 
Christian spirit, without flying the flag or wearing 
the badge of any one denomination of Christians. 
These have been the principles that placed Chau- 
tauqua at the front in its beginning and have kept 
it at the front through forty-eight years. 



APPENDIX 



DISTINGUISHED PREACHERS AT CHAU- 

TAUQUA 



Dr. Lyman Abbott 
Dr. Charles F. Aked 
Rev. Hugh Black 
Bishop C. H. Brent 
Bishop F. S. Bristol 
Bishop Phillips Brooks 
Dean Charles R. Brown 
Prof. Sylvester Burnham 
Bishop William Burt 
Dr. S. Parkes Cadman 
Rev. Francis E. Clark 
Rev. R. H. Conwell 



Dr. James A. Francis 
Dr. Washington Gladden 
Bishop D. A. Goodsell 
Dr. George A. Gordon 
Dr. F. W. Gunsaulus 
Dr. John Hall 
Dr. N. D. Hillis 
Dr. P. S. Henson 
Dean George Hodges 
Bishop E. E. Hoss 
Rev. Lynn Hough 
Bishop Edwin H. Hughes 



Bishop R. Cleveland Cox Dr. Charles E. Jefferson 



Rev. T. L. Cuyler 
Dr. E. W. Donald 
Dr. Daniel Dorchester 
Rev. Samuel A. Eliot 
Bishop Samuel Fallows 
Pres. W. H. P. Faunce 
Dr. Harry Emerson Fos- 
dick 



Bishop A. W. Leonard 
Dr. R. S. MacArthur 
Dr. A. Mackenzie 
Pres. W. D. Mackenzie 
Bishop F. J. McConnell 
Bishop W. F. McDowell 
Dr. W. P. Merrill 
Bishop C. B. Mitchell 
Chaplain W. H. Milbum 



Bishop Cyrus W. Foss 
Bishop Charles H. Fowler Dr. Philip S. Moxom 

395 



396 



APPENDIX 



Bishop W. F. Oldham 
Bishop J. T. Peck 
Bishop H. C. Potter 
Rev. G. A. Johnston Ross 
Bishop Matthew Simp- 
son 
Dr. T. DeWitt Talmage 
Bishop Boyd Vincent 
Bishop John H. Vincent 



Bishop W. D. Walker 
Bishop H. W. Warren 
Bishop Herbert Welch 
Dr. H. L. Willett 
Bishop C. D. Williams 
Dr. C. F. Wishart 
Dr. Cornelius Woelfkin 
Rabbi Louis Wolsey 



COLLEGE PRESIDENTS AND OTHER 
EDUCATORS 



Prof. Herbert B. Adams 
Pres. E. B. Andrews 
Pres. J. B. Angell 
Prof. H. T. Bailey 
Pres. J. H. Barrows 
Prof. B. P. Bowne 
Prof. H. H. Boyesen 
Prof. P. H. Boynton 
Pres. E. B. Bryan 
Pres. N. M. Butler 
Com. E. E. Brown 
Pres. J. H. Carlisle 
Com. P. P. Claxton 
Prof. A. S. Cook 
Pres. W. H. Crawford 
Prof. M. L. D'Ooge 
Prof. A. S. Draper 
Pres. C. W. EHot 
Prof. R. T. Ely 
Pres. John Finley 



Prof. Alcee Fortier 
Pres. W. G. Frost 
Pres. C. C. Hall 
Pres. G. Stanley Hall 
Pres. W. R. Harper 
Dr. W. T. Harris 
Prof. A. B. Hart 
Mr. Walter L. Hervey 
Prof. Mark Hopkins 
Mr. James L. Hughes 
Prof. William James 
Pres. D. S. Jordan 
Pres. Henry C. King 
Prof. C. F. Lavell 
Pres. H. N. MacCracken 
Dean Shailer Mathews 
Pres. J. E. McFadyen 
Pres. Edward Olson 
Mrs. Alice F. Palmer 
Prof. George M. Palmer 



APPENDIX 



397 



Col. Francis W. Parker 
Prof. F. G. Peabody 
Pres. A. V. V. Raymond 
Pres. B. P. Raymond 
Pres. Rush Rhees 
Pres. J. G. Schurman 
Pres. Julius H. Seelye 
Prof. Thomas D. Sey- 
mour 
Prof. Morse Stephens 



Pres. E. E. Sparks 
Pres. C. F. Thwing 
Prof. Moses C. Tyler 
Dr. Herman Von Hoist 
Pres. Booker T. Wash- 
ington 
Prof. L. A. Weigle 
Pres. B. I. Wheeler 
Pres. C. D. Wright 



AUTHORS AND EDITORS 



Dr. Lyman Abbott 
Mrs. G. R. Alden (Pan- 
sy) 
Mr. Norman Angell 
Mr. John K. Bangs 
Prof. Earl Barnes 
Rabbi H. Berkowitz 
Mr. John G. Brooks 
Dr. J. M. Buckley 
Mr. Richard Burton 
Mr. Geo. W. Cable 
Mr. Ralph Connor 
Mr. G. Willis Cooke 
Rev. S. McChord Croth- 

ers 
Dr. W. J. Dawson 
Prof. Henry Drummond 
Dr. A. E. Dunning 
Mr. John Fiske 
Mr. John Fox 



Mr. Hamlin Garland 
Mr. H. A. Gibbons 
Rabbi R. J. H. Gottheil 
Mr. John T. Graves 
Rabbi Moses Gries 
Mr. Edward H. Griggs 
Dr. Edward E. Hale 
Mr. Norman Hapgood 
Col. T. W. Higginson 
Dr. R. S. Holmes 
Mr. Hamilton W. Mabie 
Mr. S. S. McClure 
Mr. Donald G. Mitchell 
Dr. R. G. Moulton 
Mr. Thomas Nelson Page 
Rear Admiral Peary 
Prof. Bliss Perry 
Miss Agnes Repplier 
Mr. E. J. Ridgway 
Mr. J. Whitcomb Riley 



398 



APPENDIX 



Mr. E. Thompson Seton 
Mr. Elliott F. Shepard 
Prof. E. E. Slosson 
Judge A. W. Tourgee 
Dr. Leon H. Vincent 



Gen. Lew Wallace 
Dr. Wm. Hayes Ward 
Mr. Henry Watterson 
Mrs. Kate D. Wiggin 
Prof. C. T. Winchester 



LEADERS IN SOCIAL REFORM 



Miss Jane Addams 
Miss Susan B. Anthony 
Mrs. Mary Antin 
Mrs. Maude B. Booth 
Mrs. Carrie C. Catt 
Hon. Everett Colby 
Mr. Anthony Comstock 
Dr. Kate B. Davis 
Mr. W. R. George 
Mr. John B. Gough 
Mrs. Julia Ward Howe 
Judge Ben B. Lindsey 
Mrs. Lucia A. Mead 
Mr. John Mitchell 
Prof. Scott Nearing 
Mr. Thomas M. Osborne 
Prof. Francis Peabody 
Mrs. P. V. Pennybacker 



Mr. Jacob A. Riis 
Mr. Raymond Robins 
Rev. Anna H. Shaw 
Prof. E. A. Steiner 
Rev. Charles Stetzle 
Mr. J. G. Phelps Stokes 
Mrs. Rose Pastor Stokes 
Dr. Josiah Strong 
Prof. Graham Taylor 
Commander Booth- 

Tucker 
Mrs. Booth Tucker 
Hon. Robert Watchorn 
Miss Francis E. Williard 
Mr. Robert Woods 
Mr. John G. Woolley 
Prof. Charles Zeublin 



POLITICAL LEADERS 



Pres. U. S. Grant 
Pres. R. B. Hayes 
Pres. J. A. Garfield 
Pres. Wm. McKinley 
Pres. Theodore Roosevelt 



Pres. W. H. Taft 
Hon. Geo. W. Alger 
Gen. Russell A. Alger 
Gov. G. W. Atkinson 
Mrs. George Bass 



APPENDIX 



399 



Gov. J. A. Beaver 
Gen. John C. Black 
Hon. W. J. Bryan 
Gov. Geo. A. Carlson 
Hon. Schuyler Colfax 
Lieut. Gov. L. S. Chan- 

ler 
Senator J. P. Dolliver 
Gov. Joseph W. Folk 
Gen. John B. Gordon 
Gov. H. S. Hadley 
Hon. Murat Halstead 
Senator M. A. Hanna 
Miss Mary Garrett Hay 



Gov. F. W. Higgins 
Gen. O. O. Howard 
Gov. C. E. Hughes 
Judge W. T. Jerome 
Gov. R. M. LaFollette 
Gen. John A. Logan 
Mayor J. P. Mitchel 
Gov. B. B. Odell 
Gov. R. E. Pattison 
Hon. W. H. Prendergast 
Gov. E. S. Stuart 
Gov. R. L. Taylor 
Hon. G. W. Wickersham 
Gen. Leonard Wood 



DISTINGUISHED FOREIGNERS 



The Earl of Aberdeen 
The Countess of Aber- 
deen 
Hon. Percy Alden 
Canon S. A. Barnett 
Rev. Joseph A. Beet 
Ram Chandra Bose 
The Right Hon. James 

Bryce 
Rev. R. J. Campbell 
Sir Chentung Lieng 

Chang 
Mrs. L. Ormiston Chant 
Dr. Marcus Dods 
Prof. Henry Drummond 
Mr. W. Aver Duncan 



Principal A. M. Fair- 
bairn 
Mr. J. G. Fitch 
Prof. T. R. Glover 
The Bishop of Hereford 
Mrs. Forbes-Robertson 

Hall 
Prof. J. Stoughton Hol- 

born 
Prince Larazovich Hreb- 

lianovich 
Charles Rann Kennedy 
Prof. J. P. Mahaffy 
Prof. Boni Maury 
Rev. Mark Guy Pearse 
Rev. Dr. Percival (Rugby) 



400 



APPENDIX 



Prof. William M. Ram- 
say 
Mr. Owen Seaman 
Rev. W. O. Simpson 
Dr. George Adam Smith 
Mrs. Philip Snowden 



Lady Henry Somerset 

Miss Kate Stevens 

The Baroness Von 

Suttner 
Rev. W. L. Watkinson 



CHAUTAUQUA RECOGNITION DAY 
ORATIONS 



1882 Bishop H. W. Warren 

'83 Dr. Lyman Abbott 

'84 Dr. W. C. Wilkinson 

'85 Dr. E. E. Hale 

'86 Pres. J. H. Carlisle 

'87 Dr. J. T. Duryea 

'88 Bishop H. W. Warren 

'89 Dr. David Swing 

'90 Mrs. Alice F. Palmer 



" Brain and Heart" 

"The Democracy 
of Learning" 

** Literature as a 
Good of Life" 

"Questions and An- 
swers" 

"Redeeming the 
Time" 

"The True Cul- 
ture" 

"The Possibilities 
of Culture" 

"The Beautiful 
and the Useful" 

"Education is 



Life" 
'91 Mrs. Mary A. Livermore "The Highest 



'92 Dr. F. W. Gunsaulus 
'93 Dr. Joseph Cook 



Aristocracy" 
"The Ideal of 

Culture" 
"Columnar Truths 

in Scripture" 



APPENDIX 



401 



94 Dr. E. E. Hale 
'95 Dr. H. W. Mabie 
'96 Pres. C. W. Eliot 



'97 Dr. J. F. Goucher 
'98 Bishop J. H. Vincent 

'99 Gov. G. W. Atkinson 



'00 Pres. A. V. V. Raymond 

'01 Pres. E. B. Andrews 

'02 Mr. E. H. Griggs 

'03 Hon. W. T. Harris 



'04 Mr. E. H. Griggs 



'05 Miss Jane Addams 



'06 Mr. E. H. Griggs 



26 



"The Education of 
a Prince" 

"Literature as a 
Resource" 

"America's Con- 
tribution to Civi- 
lization" 

"Individualism" 

"The Chautauqua 
Idea" 

"Modern Edu- 
cational Re- 
quirements" 

"Education in its 
Relation to Life" 

"Problems of 

Greater Amer- 
ica" 

"The Use of the 
Margin" 

"University and 
School Exten- 
sion as Sup- 
ported by the 
Church" 

"Self-Culture 
Through the Vo- 
cation" 

"Work and Play 
as Factors in 
Education" 

"Public Education 
and the Problem 
of Democracy" 



402 



APPENDIX 



07 Pres. E. H. Hughes 

08 Pres. H. C. King 

09 Pres. W. H. P. Faunce 

10 Mr. E. H. Griggs 

11 Dr. G. E. Vincent 

12 Dr. Earl Barnes 

13 Prof. S. C. Schmucker 

14 Dean Shailer Mathews 

15 Pres. E. B. Bryan 

16 Mr. E. H. Griggs 

17 Dr. G. E. Vincent 

18 Bishop F. J. McConnell 

19 Bishop C. H. Brent 

20 Dr. L. Howard Mellish 



"Knowledge and 
Power" 

"Revelation of 
Personality" 

"Ideals of Mod- 
ern Education" 

"Literature and 
Culture" 

"The Larger Sel- 
fishness" 

"Being Born 

Again" 

"What Next?" 

"Vocations and 
Avocations" 

"Who are Good 
Citizens?" 

"World- War and 
Ethics" 

"The Meaning of 
America" 

"Ideals of Leader- 
ship" 

"The Opportuni- 
ties of the Mind" 

"The Way into 
Life's Greater 
Values" 



APPENDIX 403 

CLASS DIRECTORY, CHAUTAUQUA HOME 
READING CIRCLES— C. L. S. C. 



Class 1882, " The Pioneers " 

Motto— "From Height to Height." 

Emblem — The hatchet. 

President — J. L. Hurlburt, Bloomfield, N. J. 

Secretary — Miss May E. Wightman, 238 Main St., 

Pittsburgh, Pa. 
Treasurer — Mrs. L. J. Harter, Chautauqua, N. Y. 

Class 1883, " The Vincents " 

Motto — "Step by step, we gain the height." 
Emblem — The sweet pea. 
President — Mrs. Thos. Alexander, FrankHn, Pa. 
Secretary — Miss Anne Hitchcock, Burton, O. 
Treasurer — Miss M. J. Perrine, Chautauqua, N. Y. 

Class 1884, " The Irrepressibles " 

Motto — "Press forward, he conquers who will." 

Emblem — The golden rod. 

President — Miss Anna McDonald, 630 Magnolia 

Ave., Long Beach, Calif. 
Treasurer — Mr. F. A. Kinsley, 461 Ashland Ave., 

Buffalo, N. Y. 
Secretary-Trustee — Mrs. Lizzie Wilcox, Chautauqua, 

N. Y. 

Class 1885, " The Invincibles " 

Motto — "Press on, reaching after those things which 

are before." 
Emblem — The heliotrope. 



404 



APPENDIX 



President— Mr. E. C. Dean, Delphi, N. Y. 
Secretary-Treasurer — Mrs. T. J. Bentley, Springboro, 
Pa. 

Class 1886, " The Progressives " 

Motto— "We study for light to bless with light." 
Emblem — The aster. 

President — Miss Sara Soule, Chautauqua, N. Y. 
Secretary — Mrs. M. V. Rowley, 112 Vassar St., 

Cleveland, O. 
Treasurer — Miss Lucy Woodwell, 25 Indiana Ave., 

Somerville, Mass. 
Trustee— Dr. Hi Long, 1339 Main St., Buffalo, N. Y. 

Class 1887, " The Pansy " 

Motto — "Neglect not the gift that is within thee." 
Emblem — The pansy. 

President— Mr. H. E. Barrett, Syracuse, N. Y. 
Secretary — Miss Alice M. Bentley, Meadville, Pa. 
Treasurer — Miss Letitia Flocker, Evergreen Road, 

R. F. D., N. S., Pittsburgh, Pa. 
Trustee — Miss Adell Clapp, Chautauqua, N. Y. 

Class 1888, " The Plymouth Rock " 

Motto — "Let us be seen by our deeds." 

Emblem — The geranium. 

President— Mr. G. W. Bartlett, Hamburg, N. Y. 

Secretary-Treasurer — Miss Agnes S. Chalmers, 

Amsterdam, N. Y. 
Trustee— Mr. G. W. Bartlett, Hamburg, N. Y. 

Class 1889, " The Argonauts " 

Motto — " Knowledge unused for the good of others is 
more vain than unused gold." 



APPENDIX 405 

Emblem — The daisy. 

President — Rev. J. E. Rudisill, Columbus, O. 
Secretary — Mrs. Mary C. Morris, Point Pleasant, N. J. 
Treasurer — Mrs. D. F. Emery, Greenville, Pa. 
Trustee — Rev. C. C. Creegan, Marietta, O. 

Class 1890, " The Pierians " 

Motto — * ' Redeeming the time. ' ' 
Emblem — The tube rose. 

President — Rev. J. R. Morris, Homer City, Pa. 
Secretary-Treasurer-Trustee — Miss Ada Benner, 5512 
Center Ave., Pittsburgh, Pa. 

Class 1891, " The Olympians " 

Motto — "So run that ye may obtain." 

Emblem — The laurel and the white rose. 

President — Mrs. George T. Guernsey, Independence, 

Kans. 
Secretary-Treasurer — Miss Marie A. Daniels, New 

Britain, Conn. 
Trustee — Mrs. George T. Guernsey, Independence 

Kans. 

Class 1892, " Columbia " 

Motto — "Seek and ye shall find." 

Emblem — The carnation. 

President— Mrs. Clara L. McCray, Bradford, Pa. 

Secretary — Miss Annie E. Jackson, Port Deposit, Mi{ 

Treasurer — Mrs. Chas. B. Adams, Zanesville, O. 

Trustee — Mrs. Clara L. McCray, Bradford, Pa. 

Class 1893, " The Athenians " 

Motto — "Study to be what you wish to seem." 
Emblem — The acorn. 



406 APPENDIX 

President— Mrs. J. J. Matthews, 623 N. Negley Ave., 

Pittsburgh, Pa. 
Secretary-Treasurer — Mrs. Nettie C. Rice, Ebens- 

burgh. Pa. 
Trustee — Prof. Thomas H. Paden, New Concord, O. 

Class 1894, " The Philomatheans " 

Motto — "Ubi mel, ibi apes.*' 
Emblem — The clover. 
President— Dr. A. C. Ellis, Oil City, Pa. 
Secretary-Treasurer-Trustee — Mrs. Sanford Lynn 
Porter, Chautauqua, N. Y. 

Class 1895, " The Pathfinders " 

Motto — "Truth will make you free." 
Emblem — The nasturtium. 
President — Mrs. George P. Hukill, Franklin, Pa. 
Treasurer— Mrs. E. L. Ploss, Chautauqua, N. Y. 
Secretary-Trustee — Miss Catherine Lawrence, 610 E. 
23rd St., Brooklyn, N. Y. 

Class 1896, " The Truth-Seekers " 

Motto— "Truth is eternal." 

Emblem — The forget-me-not. The Greek lamp. 

President — Mrs. Margaret A. Seaton, 1943 E. 86th 

St., Cleveland, O. 
Secretary-Treasurer — Miss Emily A. Birchgard, 1826 

Penrose Ave., Cleveland, O. 
Trustee — Mr. John R. Connor, Chautauqua, N. Y. , 

Class 1897, " The Romans " 

Motto— " Veni, Vidi, Vici." 
Emblem — The ivy. 



APPENDIX 407 

President — Mrs. Harriet M. Dunn, Brooklyn, Mich. 
Secretary-Treasurer — Mrs. Anna Heilman, Greenville, 

Pa. 
Trustee — Mrs. Harriet M. Dunn, Brooklyn, Mich. 

Class 1898, " The Laniers " 

Motto — "The humblest life that lives may be divine." 
Emblem — The violet. 

President — Mrs. G. E. Tanner, Chautauqua, N. Y. 
Secretary-Treasurer-Trustee — Miss Fannie B. Collins, 
Grand view, O. 

Class 1899, " The Patriots " 

Motto—' ' Fidelity, Fraternity. ' ' 

Emblem— The flag. 

President — Mrs. E. E. Sparks, 444 Macon St., 

Brooklyn, N. Y. 
Secretary — Mrs. M. Barnard, 1637 E. 66th St., 

Cleveland, O. 
Treasurer — Mrs. J. V. Ritts, Butler, Pa. 
Trustee — Mrs. Ella Richards, Chautauqua, N. Y. 

Class 1900, " The Nineteenth Century " 

Motto — "Faith in the God of Truth; hope for the un- 
folding centuries; charity toward all endeavor." 

Emblem — The evergreen. 

President — Mrs. J. H. Montgomery, Chautauqua, 
N.Y. 

Secretary-Treasurer — Mrs. L. B. Watts, 5740 
Cabanna Ave., St. Louis, Mo. 

Trustee — Mrs. J. H. Montgomery, Chautauqua, 
N. Y. 



4o8 APPENDIX 

Class 1901, " The Twentieth Century " 

Motto— "Light, Love, Life." 

Emblem — The palm. 

President — Mrs. Lucy Mendel! George, Wellsburg, 

W. Va. 

Secretary — Miss Elizabeth J. Steward, Westwood, 

N.J. 
Treasurer — Mrs. Clara Lawrence, 610 E. 23rd St., 

Brooklyn, N. Y. 

Trustee — Miss Margaret Hackley, Georgetown, Ky. 

Class 1902, " The Altrurians " 

Motto— "Not for self, but for all." 
Emblem — Golden glow. 

President — Mrs. J. A. Walker, Brownwood, Tex. 
Secretary-Treasurer-Trustee — Miss Frances David- 
son, Chautauqua, N. Y. 

Class 1903, " The Quarter Century '* 

Motto — "What is excellent is permanent." 

Emblem — The cornflower. 

President — Mr. Edward E. Sparks, 444 Macon St., 

Brooklyn, N. Y. 
Secretary — Miss Ida M. Quimby, 20 Spring St., East 

Orange, N. J. 
Treasurer — Miss Evelyn Dewey, 20 Spring St., East 

Orange, N. J. 
Trustee — Mr. Edward E. Sparks, 444 Macon St., 

Brooklyn, N. Y. 

Class 1904, " Lewis Miller " 

Motto — "The horizon widens as we climb." 
Emblem — Clematis. 



APPENDIX 409 

President— Mrs. Laura Johnston, 30 W. 4th St., Oil 

City, Pa. 
Secretary-Treasurer— Miss Louise Nicholson, 89 

Union St., Blue Island, 111. 
Trustee— Miss Grace E. Beck, 424 Mahoning St., 

Monongahela, Pa. 

Class 1905, " The Cosmopolitan " 

Motto — *' A man's reach should exceed his grasp." 
Emblem— The cosmos. 

President — Dr. James Babbitt, Philadelphia, Pa. 
Secretary-Treasurer— Mrs. J. J. Bowden, Johnstown, 

Pa. 

Trustee— Miss Minnie Edgerton, 104 Prospect Ave., 

Buffalo, N. Y. 

Class 1906, " John Ruskin " 

Motto — *'To love light and seek knowledge." 
Emblem— Easter lily. 

President— Mrs. Theo. Hall, Jr., Ashtabula, O. 
Secretary-Treasurer-Trustee — Miss Irena Roach, Box 
126, Round Lake, N. Y. 

Class 1907, " George Washington " 

Motto — "The aim of education is character." 

Emblem — The scarlet salvia. 

President— Mrs. Geo. Coblentz, 1045 W. 9th St., Erie, 

Pa. 

Secretary-Treasurer— Mrs. A. H. Marvin, OberHn, O. 
Trustee— Miss Rannie Webster, Chautauqua, N. Y. 

Class 1908, " Tennyson " 
Motto— "To strive, to seek, to find, to yield." 
Emblem— The red rose. 



410 APPENDIX 

President — Prof. Samuel C. Schmucker, West 

Chester, Pa. 
Secretary-Treasurer-Trustee — Miss Sarah E. Ford 

169 Court St., Binghamton, N. Y. 

Class 1909, " Dante " 

Motto — *'0n and fear not." 
Emblem — The grapevine. 

President — Mrs. O. B. Shallenberger, Beaver, Pa. 
Secretary-Treasurer — Mrs. Hiram J. Baldwin, Fal- 
coner, N. Y. 
Trustee— Mrs. Thos. B. Hill, Chautauqua, N. Y. 

Class 1910, " Gladstone " 

Motto — "Life is a great and noble calling." 

Emblem — The beech. 

President — Miss Nannie S. Stockett, Annapolis, Md. 

Secretary — Mr. James Bird, 1028 Ann St., Parkers- 
burg, W. Va. 

Treasurer — Mr. J. J. McWilliams, 11500 Euclid Ave., 
Cleveland, O. 

Class 191 1, "Longfellow " 

Motto — "Act, act in the living present." 
Emblem — The young Hiawatha and the hydrangea. 
President — Mrs. M. L. Chattin, Temple, Tex. 
Secretary — Mrs. Effa Brown, McKeesport, Pa. 
Treasurer — Mrs. L. B. Yale, Chautauqua, N. Y. 
Trustee— Mrs. Walter King, 323 W. 83rd St., New 
York City. 

Class 1912, " Shakespeare " 

Motto — "To thine own self be true." 
Emblem — Eglantine. 



APPENDIX 4" 

President — Mrs. S. F. Clarke, 4th St., Freeport, Pa. 
Secretary — Miss M. E. Phillips, Marion, Ala. 
Treasurer-Trustee — Mrs. S. F. Clarke, 4th St., Free- 
port, Pa. 

Class 1913, " Athene " 

Motto — ** Self -reverence, self-knowledge, self-control, 

these three alone lead life to sovereign power." 
Emblem — The owl. 
President — Rev. W. C. McKnight, Birmingham, 

Mich. 
Secretary — Mr. Robert Adams, Warren, Pa. 
Treasurer — Mrs. Alice J. McKnight, Birmingham, 

Mich. 
Trustee — Mrs. J. H. Knepper, 924 Michigan Ave., 

Buffalo, N. Y. 

Class 1914, " Dickens " 

Motto — "The voice of time cries to man, * Advance.* " 

Emblem — Wild rose. 

President — Prof. Chas. E. Rhodes, 507 Potomac Ave., 

Buffalo, N. Y. 
Secretary — Miss Rose Webster, Chautauqua, N. Y. 
Treasurer-Trustee — Miss Eleanor Clark, iioi King 

Ave., Pittsburgh, Pa. 

Class 1915, " Jane Addams " 

Motto — "Life more abundant." 

Emblem — American laurel. 

President — Mr. W. H. Hamlin, Tougaloo, Miss. 

Secretary-Treasurer — Mrs. A. F. B. Morris, 6716 

Thomas Bldg., Pittsburgh, Pa. 
Trustee — Mrs. Ida B. Cole, Chautauqua, N. Y. 



412 APPENDIX 

Class 1916, " The Internationals " 

Motto — ''Knowledge maketh all mankind akin." 

Emblem— The holly. 

President — Miss Laura Hamilton, Chautauqua, 
N. Y. 

Secretary-Treasurer-Trustee — Miss Amelia H. Bum- 
stead, St. Petersburg, Fla. 

Class 1917, " Emerson " 

Motto — "Let us know the truth." 

Emblem — The cat-tail. 

President^Mrs. John Orr, Hotel San Remo, New 

York City. 
Secretary — Mrs. T. D. Samford, Opelika, Ala. 
Treasurer — Mr. Louis H. Walden, Norwich, Conn. 
Trustee — Mrs. O. G. Franks, Chautauqua, N. Y, 

Class 1918, " The Arthurians " 

Motto — "Live pure, speak true, right the wrong, fol- 
low the King." 

Emblem — The gladiolus. 

President — Miss Emma T. Mclntyre, Eustis, Fla. 

Secretary — Miss Margaret M. Chalmers, Hagaman, 
N. Y. 

Treasurer-Trustee — Mrs. Chas. E. Rhodes, 507 
Potomac Ave., Buffalo, N. Y. 

Class 1919, " America " 

Motto — "Peace and Democracy." 
Emblem — The American Beauty rose. 
President — Mrs. S. E. Booth, 700 N. Harrison Ave., 
Wilmington, Del. 



APPENDIX 413 

Secretary — Mrs. Ethel M. Vanderburger, 70 Melrose 

St., Rochester, N. Y. 
Trustee — Mrs. Anna M. Fay, Brocton, N. Y. 

Class 1920, " The Optimists " 

Motto — ''Nothing less than the best." 

Emblem — The pink aster. 

President — Dr. George Hobbie, 600 Delaware Ave., 

Buffalo, N. Y. 
Treasurer — Miss Jessie M. Leslie, Chautauqua, 

N. Y. 
Secretary-Trustee — Mrs. Chas. C. Taylor, Akron, O. 

Class 1 92 1, " The Adelphians " 

Motto — "Omnia vincit amor." *'Love conquers all." 

Emblem — The woodbine. 

President — Prof. Frank E. Ewart, Colgate University, 

Hamilton, N. Y. 
Secretary — Miss Harriet Sheldon, The Seneca, Broad 

St., Columbus, O. 
Treasurer-Trustee — Mrs. Frances Akin, Chautauqua, 

N. Y. 

Class 1922, " The Crusaders " 

Motto — "Be not content to read history, make it." 

Emblem — The oak leaf. 

President — Mr. O. C. Herrick, 6028 Rodman St., 
Pittsburg, Pa. 

Secretary — Miss Alameda Edwards, 750 Mt. Hope 
Road, Cincinnati, 0. 

Treasurer — Mr. Robert Cleland, 5809 Northumber- 
land Ave., Pittsburgh, Pa. 

Trustee — Mrs. Evalyn Dorman, Chautauqua, N. Y. 



414 APPENDIX 

Class 1923, " The Victory " 

Motto— "Victory." 

Emblem— The poppy. The flags of the Allies. 
President — Miss Elizabeth Skinner, Dunedin, Fla. 
Recording Secretary — Mrs. R. W. Johnston, 1649 

Shady Ave., Pittsburgh, Pa. 
Corresponding Secretary — Mrs. John W. Hanna, 803 

Fourth St., Braddock, Pa. 
Treasurer-Trustee— Mrs. R. I. Park, Chautauqua, 

N.Y. 

Class 1924, " The New Era " 

Motto — *' Enter to learn, go forth to serve." 
Emblem — The blue larkspur and the marigold. 
President— Mrs. F. M. Beacom, 1312 W. loth St., 

Wilmington, Del. 
Secretary-Treasurer — Mrs. F. N. Prechtel, Cherokee, 

la. 

THE TRUSTEES OF CHAUTAUQUA 

N. B. — The Sunday School Assembly of 1874 and 1875 was 
held under the direction of a committee from the Sunday School 
Union of the Methodist Episcopal Church, the grounds at Fair 
Point being owned by the Erie Conference Camp Meeting As- 
sociation. In May, 1876, the property was transferred to the 
Board of Trustees of the National Sunday School Assembly. 

THE FIRST CHAUTAUQUA TRUSTEES 
(SUNDAY SCHOOL ASSEMBLY) 

C. Aultman, Canton, O. 
A. Bradley, Pittsburgh, Pa. 
Clinton M. Ball 



APPENDIX 415 

Frank C. Carley, Louisville, Ky. 

W. P. Cooke 

Adams Davis, Corry, Pa. 

George W. Gifford, Mayville, N. Y. 

J. C. Gifford, Westfield, N. Y. 

J. J. Henderson, Meadville, Pa. 

Herman Jones, Erie, Pa. 

C. L. Jeffords, Jamestown, N. Y. 

Isaac Moore, Mayville, N. Y. 

Lewis Miller, Akron, O. 

Jacob Miller, Canton, O. 

H. A. Massey, Toronto 

Hiram A. Pratt, Chautauqua, N. Y. 

John W. Pitts, Jamestown, N. Y. 

David Preston, Detroit, Mich. 

F. H. Root, Buffalo, N. Y. 

E. A. Skinner, Westfield, N. Y. 

Sardius Steward, Ashville, N. Y. 

John H. Vincent, Plainfield, N. J. 

Amos K. Warren, Mayville, N. Y. 

W. W. Wythe, Chautauqua, N. Y. 

THE FIRST TRUSTEES OF THE CHAUTAUQUA 
INSTITUTION (1898) 

General Officers 

John H. Vincent, Chancellor 

W. H. Hickman, President of Trustees 

George E. Vincent, Principal of Instruction 

Joseph C. Neville, Chairman Executive Board 

Ira M. Miller, Secretary 

Scott Brown, General Director 

Warren F. Walworth, Treasurer 



4i6 APPENDIX 

Trustees 

Noah F. Clark, Oil City, Pa. 

William J. Cornell, Chautauqua, N. Y. 

W. A. Duncan, Syracuse, N. Y. 

E. G. Dusenbury, Portville, N. Y. 
C. D. Firestone, Columbus, O. 
James M. Guffey, Pittsburgh, Pa. 
W. H. Hickman, Greencastle, Ind. 
Frank W. Higgins, Olean, N. Y. 

J. Franklin Hunt, Chautauqua, N. Y. 
Frederick W. Hyde, Jamestown, N. Y. 
Julius King, Cleveland, O. 
Chester D. Massey, Toronto, Canada 
Ira M. Miller, Akron, O. 
Joseph C. Neville, Chicago, 111. 
S. Fred. Nixon, Westfield, N. Y. 
Frank M. Potter, Chautauqua, N. Y. 

F. H. Rockwell, Warren, Pa. 
A. M. Schoyer, Pittsburgh, Pa. 
W. H. Shortt, Youngsville, Pa. 
Clement Studebaker, South Bend, Ind. 
William Thomas, Meadville, Pa. 
George E. Vincent, Chicago, 111. 
Warren F. Walworth, Cleveland, O. 

Local Officers 

George W. Rowland, Superintendent 
William G. Bissell, M.D., Health Officer 

BOARD OF TRUSTEES— 1920 

Arthur E. Bestor, Chautauqua, N. Y., President 

Chautauqua Institution 
Ernest Cawcroft, 48 Fenton Building, Jamestown, N. Y. 



APPENDIX 417 

Noah F. Clark, 803 Magee Building, Pittsburgh, 

Pa. 
Melvil Dewey, President Lake Placid Club, Essex Co., 

N. Y. 
George W. Gerwig, Secretary Board of Education, 

Pittsburgh. 
E. Snell Hall, 127 Forest Ave., Jamestown, N. Y. 
Louis J. Harter, Chautauqua, N. Y. 
Fred W. Hyde, American Bankers Association, Wash- 
ington, D. C. 
J. C. McDowell, 132 1 Farmers Bank Building, Pitts- 
burgh. 
Vincent Massey, Massey Harris Company, Ltd., 

Toronto, Canada. 
Shailer Mathews, Dean Divinity School, University of 

Chicago. 
Ira M. Miller, Akron, O. 
Mrs. Robert A. Miller, 17 West 45th St., New York 

City. 
S. I. Munger, Dallas, Tex. 
Mrs. Percy V. Pennybacker, c6o6 Whitis Ave., Austin, 

Tex. 
Frank M. Potter, Mayville, N. Y. 
William L. Ransom, 120 Broadway, New York 

City. 
A. M. Schoyer, Pennsylvania Lines, Pittsburgh 
Alburn E. Skinner, Warren-Nash Motor Company, 18 

West 63rd St., New York City 
Clement Studebaker, Jr., South Bend, Ind. 
H. A. Truesdale, Conneaut, O. 
George E. Vincent, President Rockefeller Foundation, 

61 Broadway, New York City. 
Charles E. Welch, Welch Grape Juice Company, 

Westfield, N. Y. 

a? 



4i8 APPENDIX 

Honorary Trustees 

Scott Brown, 208 South La Salle St., Chicago. 

E. G. Dusenbury, Portville, N. Y. 

George Greer, New Castle, Pa. 

W. H. Hickman, Montpelier, Ind. 

Julius King, Julius King Optical Company, Cleve- 
land, O. 

Chester D. Massey, 519 Jarvis St., Toronto, 
Canada. 

Z. L. White, Columbus, O. 



Educational Council 

Lyman Abbott, Editor Outlooky New York City. 
Jane Addams, Hull House, Chicago. 
Percy H. Boyntonj University of Chicago, Chicago. 
Frank Chapin Bray, League of Nations Union, New 

York City. 
John Graham Brooks, 8 Francis Ave., Cambridge, 

Mass. 
Elmer E. Brown, Chancellor New York University, 

New York City. 
Richard T. Ely, University of Wisconsin, Madison, 

Wis. 
W. H. P. Faunce, President Brown University, Provi- 
dence, R. I. 
J. M. Gibson, Linnell Close, Hampstead Gardens, 

London, England. 
Frank W. Gunsaulus, President Armour Institute, 

Chicago. 
G. Stanley Hall, President Clark University, 

Worcester, Mass. 
Jesse L. Hurlbut, 74 Park Ave., Bloomfield, N. J. 



APPENDIX 419 

F. G.Peabody, Harvard University, Cambridge, Mass. 

Sir George Adam Smith, Principal Aberdeen Uni- 
versity, Aberdeen, Scotland. 

Charles David Williams, Bishop of Michigan, Detroit, 
Mich. 



INDEX 



Abbott, Lyman, x, 83, 84, 130, 

211, 240 
Abbott, E. H., 310 
Aberdeen, Lord and Lady, 273 
Ackerman, Miss J. T., 270 
Adams, B. M., 208 
Adams, H. B., 240, 264 
Adams, Thomas, 341 
Addams, Jane, 263,274,281,302 
Ainslee, Peter, 331 
Aked,C.F.,269,303,3i6 
Alden, Mr. and Mrs. G. R., 71, 

108, 181, 235 
Alderi, Joseph, 162 
Alden, Percy, 272, 307 
Alden, R. M., 182 
Alger, G. W., 334 
Alger, R. A., 235 
Alumni Hall, 247 
Amphitheater, 100, 163, 253 
Anderson, W. G., 229, 240 
Andrews, E. B., 284 
Angell, Norman, 333 
Anthony, Susan B., 250, 280 
Antin, Mary, 333 
Ark, The, 79 
Arts and Crafts, 288, 308 
Athletic Club, 257 
Atkinson, G. W., viii, 279 
Auditorium, the old, 40 
Aula Christi, 281 
Automobiles, 33 
Axson, Stockton, 310 

Babbitt, Dean R., 290 
Bailey, H. T., 288, 299, 301, 

315, 341 . ^ 
Bailey, Mapr-General, 354 
Bailey, M. M., 78 
Bain, G. W., 235, 284 



Bainbridge, W. S., 330 

Baird, A. J,, 84 

Baker, Mrs. Bertha K., 272, 

283, 294, 298 
Bangs, J. K, 274, 279 
Baptist Headquarters, 266 
Barnard, Charles, 80 
Barnes, Earl, 310, 315, 322, 

342, 354 
Barrows, J. H., 240, 267 
Barton, J. L., 348 
Bass, Mrs. George, 360 
Bay View Assembly, 364 
Beard, Frank, 41, 42, 81, 84, 85, 

86, 103, 167, 206, 231, 287, 

370 
Beard, Mrs. Helen, 68, 231, 

328, 358 
Beaver, J. A., 264, 307 
Beecher, T. K., 85, 86 
Beecher, W. J., 230 
Beginnings of Chautauqua, 38 
Bellamy, G. A., 341 
Benfey, Ida, 267 
Bengough, 322 
Bestor, A. E., 298, 301, 312, 

315. 316, 322, 332, 342, 345, 

349» 382 
Bird and Tree Club, 2C1 
Birney, Mrs. T. W., 261 
Bisbee, May M., 113 
Bishop, Mrs. E. M., 294 
Bishop, I. P., 290 
Black, Hugh, 293, 313 
Black, John C, 287 
Blackburn, W. M., 207 
Blichfeldt, E. H., 329 
Bliss, P. P., 82, 86 
Boarding houses, 99 
Bolin, Jacob, gymnasium, 344 



421 



422 



INDEX 



Bolton, C. E. and S. K., 210 

Boole, Mrs. E. A., 346 

Booth, Ballington, 252, 271 

Booth, Maud Ballington, 252, 
271 

Booth-Tucker, Emma, 289 

Booth-Tucker, Frederick, 289 

Bose, R. C, 181,221 

Boston Society for Encourage- 
ment of Home Study, 119 

Bowne, B. P., 181 

Bowker, R. R., 

Boyesen, H. H., xv, 240 

Boynton, G. M., 293 

Boynton, P. P., 289, 336 

Boys' club, 259 

Bradford, A. H., 274 

Bray, F, C, 274 

Brent, Bishop, 355 

Broadus, J. A., 234 

Brooks, J. G., xii, 300, 302 

Brooks, Phillips, xvii, 235 

Brown, C. R., 336 

Brown, J. W., 

Brown, Mrs. Kenneth, 347 

Brown, Mrs. M. M., 62 

Brown, Scott, 281 

Bruce, Wallace, 207 

Bruch, Mrs. Kate P., 24 

Brule, Etienne, 7 

Bryan, E. B., 335, 343, 346, 388 

Bryan, W. J., ix, 302, 317 

Bryant, W. C, 132 

Bryce, James, ix, 312 

Buckley, J. M., 55, no, 164, 
296 

Burbank, A. P., 243 

Burdette, R. J., 246 

Burr, C. F., 83 

Burt, Bishop, 341 

Burton, Richard, 291, 298, 310, 

324» 359 
Butler, J. W., 221 
Butler, N. M., 269 

Cable, G. W., 243, 272 
Cadman, S. P., 269, 280, 293, 

346 
Calder, W. M., 336 
Campbell, R. J., 291 



Camp fire, 192 

Camp meetings, 22, 29 

Carleton, W. M., 230, 267, 

274 
Carlson, G. A., 333 
Carpenter, F. G., 263 
Carroll, Mitchell, 341, 347 
Case,C. C.,68, 89 
Catt, Mrs. C. C, 280, 346 
Celdron, Bienville de, 8 
Centennial, National, 72, 85 
Chafin, E. W., 317 
Chamberlin, Miss G. L., 330 
Chanler, Lieut. Governor, 306 
Chart, Mrs. L. O., 283 
Chapel, the old, loi 
Chapman, J. W., 293, 307, 313 
Chautauqua Assembly, 20, 28; 
catholicity of, 33; club life, 
253; expansion of, 63; gate 
fee, 30; incorporation, 90; 
restrictions, 254; salute, 112; 
songs, 106, 201; Sunday at, 

30,31 
Chautauqua Educational 

Council, 262, 418 
Chautauqua Foreign Tour, 221 
Chautauqua Institution, 286 
Chautauqua Lake, 3-10 
Chautauqua Literary and Sci- 
entific Circle, 1 1 6- 1 3 7 ; 
Alumni Hall, 247; banner, 
200; camp fire, 156, 377; 
class buildings, 223; class 
names, 154; course of read- 
ing, 150; examinations, 150; 
flag, 199; mottoes, 154; prob- 
lems, 169; recognition day, 
196; seals, 152; stories, 209 
Chautauqua Press, 274 
Chautauqua University, 227, 

252 
Chautauquan, The, 181 
Chentung Lieng Chang, 300 
Children at Chautauqua, 259 
Children's Hour, 87, 139 
Children's Temple, 139 
Chime of Bells, 224 
Chittenden, Miss A. H., 319 
Christian Ethics Society, 194 



INDEX 



423 



Chubb, E. W., 

Church doctrines, 138 

Churchill, J. W., 167 

Civil War veterans, 231 

Clark, F. E., 246, 293 

Clark, S. H., 264, 267, 272, 

284, 294, 298, 346 
Club Life at Chautauqua, 253 
Clear Lake Assembly, 365 
Clews, Henry, 302 
Cobem, C. M., 306 
Coburn, C. D., 319 
Cody, H. J., 319 
Coe, G. A., 310 
Colby, Everett, 306 
Colfax, Schuyler, 181 
Cole, Mrs. Ida B., 190 
College building, 233, 308 
College Men's club, 262 
College of Liberal Arts, 235 
College Women's club, 262 
Colonnade building, 298, 304 
Colquitt, A. H., 137 
Comprehensive plan, 350 
Comstock, Anthony, loi, 264 
Conwell, R. H., 229, 241, 264, 

269,311 
Cook, A. S., xiii, 266 
Cook, Joseph, xvii, 109, 138, 

167, 235, 264, 367 
Cooke, E. v., 315 
Cooke, G. W., 291 
Cope, H. F., 310 
Co wen, C. A., 354 
Crafts, W. F., 108, 362 
Crawford, W. H., 265, 284 
Croquet at Chautauqua, 257 
Crosby, Howard, 131 
Crothers, S. M., 303, 312, 323 
Cumnock, R. L., 211, 231, 236, 

243 

Daily Assembly Herald, 78 
Davis, Katharine B., 334, 353 
Davis, O. S., 360 
Dawson, W. J., 299 
Deems, 55, in, 131, 227, 369 
De Grott, E. B., 302 
Democracy at Chautauqua, 
189 



Denominational houses, 174 
Denominations at Chautau- 
qua, 33 
Devotional Hour, 207, 292 
Dewey, Melvil, 283, 302 
Dickinson, J. W., 161 
Dining Hall, the old, 39 
Disciples House, 286 
Domestic Science, 271 
Dorchester, Daniel, 293 
Doremus, R. O., 74 
Downes, Olin, 324 
Downey, Mary E., 283, 329 
Draper, A. S., 310 
Drummond, Henry, 262 
Dugmore, A. R., 339 
Duncan, W. Aver, 85 
Dunning, A. E., 187, 287, 383 
Duryea, J. E., 214 

Eastern Star, order of, 262 
Eastman, C. A., 356 
Eaton, John B., 274 
Eberhardt, A. O., ix 
Edison, T. A., 75 
Eggleston, Edward, 263 
Eliot, C. W., 270 
Eliot, S. A., 310 
Ellsworth, W. W., 352 
Ely, R. T., 274 
Esperanto, 311 
Ewing, Mrs. E. P., 210, 271 
Excell, E. O., 221 
Expression, school of, 264 

Fairbaim, xiv, 221, 234, 246, 

267, 279 
Fair Point, 10, 23, 58 
Fallows, Bishop, 310 
Faunce, W. H. P., 274, 279, 311 
Fenton Memorial Home, 341 
Ferguson, John, 353 
Fife, R. H., 347 

Finley,J.H.,27i,357 
Fires at Chautauqua, 245, 304 
Fisk Jubilee Singers, 181, 188 
Fiske, John, 250, 267, 279 
Fletcher, Horace, 277 
Flodd, T. L., 69, 78, i8i 
Flood and Vincent, 245 



424 



INDEX 



Flower girls, 199 
Flude, G. L., 389 
Folk, J. W., 298 
Forbush, Byron, 301 
Ford Peace Expedition, 335 
Foreign Mission Institute, 163 
Foreign Tour, 210 
Fosdick, H. E., 340 
Foss, Bishop, 22^, 241 
Foster, Bishop, 138, 167 
Founders of Chautauqua, 1 1 
Fowler, Bishop, 55, 138, 167 
Fox, John, 274 
Eraser, Helen, 346 
French Military Band, 345 
French Road, 8 
Frost, W. G., 290 

Galloway, Bishop, 279 
Garfield, President, 182 
Garghill, Isabel, 274 
Garland, D. R., 341 
Garland, Hamlin, 291 
Garire, A. E., 358 
Gates, M. E., 252 
Gavazzi, Alessandro, 187 
George, W. R., 302 
Ghost Walk, the, 185 
Gibbons, H. A., 333, 342, 359 
Gibson, H. M., 251 
Gifford, O. P., 283 
Gilbert, J. E., 373 
Gilkey,C.W.,334,347 
Gillet, A. H., 381 
Gilman, Arthur, 131 
Gilmore, J. H., 180 
Girls' club, 252, 286 
Gladden, Washington, 180, 

240, 331 
Glover, T. R., 359 
Golden Gate, 198, 205 
Golf club, 257 
Golf course, 331 
Goodsell, Bishop, 187, 274 
Gordan, G. A., 269 
Gordon, J. B., 267, 291 
Gottheil, Gustave, 249 
Goucher, J. F., 271 
Gough, J. B., 55, 102, 108 
Grange Building, 261, 289 



Grant, President, 14, 69 

Graves, J. T., 263, 290 

Greek play, 326 

Green's Short History ^ 134, 152 

Greene, S. L., m 

Grieve, A. J., 358 

Griffith, Sanford, 330, 334, 342 

Griggs, E. H., xii, 280, 291, 

294» 300, 306, 312, 329, 336, 

346 
Gronow, H. E., 330 
Grouetch, Mrs. M. S., 354 
Guernsey, Mrs. G. T., 346 
Guest House, the, 79 
Gunsaulus, F. W., 235, 240, 

25i» 269, 315 

Habberton, John, 246 

Hale, Edward E., xvi, 80, n8, 

152, 176, 187, 213, 227, 229, 

235, 264, 265, 267, 279, 284 
Hale, Mrs. F. R., 355 
Hall, C. C, 298 
Hall, G. S., 267, 271, 302 
Hall, John, 230 
Hall. J. M., 365 
Hall, J. P., 334 
Hall of the Christ, 281 
Hall of Pedagogy, 273 
Hall of Philosophy, 168, 288, 

292 
Hallam, Alfred, 288, 357 
Halstead, Murat, 274 
Hancock, John, 162 
Hanna, Mark, 286 
Hapgood, Norman, 305 
Hard, C. P., 53 
Hargrove, Bishop, 84 
Harper, Mrs. I. H., 319 
Harper, P. V., 266 
Harper, W. R., 210, 235, 238, 

241, 267, 269, 271, 287, 312 
Harrington, C. L., 314 
Harris, W. T., xiii, 207, 270, 291 
Hart, A. B., 279 
Hatfield, R. M., 138 
Haven, Bishop, 55 
Hay, Miss M. G., 360 
Hayes, H. G., 359 
Hayes, Maud, 348 



INDEX 



425 



Hayes, President, 240 
Hazard, M. C, 85 
Hazeltine, Mary E., 283 
Hearst, Mrs. Phebe A., 268 
Henderson, C. R., 234, 322 
Henson, P. S., no, 310 
Herbert, Victor, 328 
Hibben, J. G., 336 
Hickman, W. H., 331 
Higgins Hall, 266 
Hill, A. C, 323 
Hillis, N. D., 299 
Hobson, R. P., 283 
Hodge, A. A., 130, 167 
Hodge, R. M., 310 
Hodges, George, 315 
Holborn, J. S., 326, 349 
Holmes, R. S., 185, 226 
Home, Silvester, 316 
Horr, R. G., 234, 263 
Hospital, the, 316 
Hospitality House, 261 
Hoss, Bishop, 315 
Hotel Athenaeum, 172 
Hough, L. H., 323, 359 
Howard, O. O., 181, 265 
Howe, Julia Ward, xviii 
Hughes, C. E., 302 
Hughes, Bishop E. H,, 346 
Hulbert, A. B., 309 
Hull, Mrs. J. C, 221 
HuUey, Lincoln, 280, 327 
Hurlbut, J. L., 64, 278, 327, 

347» 357, 374 
Hurst, Bishop, 55 
Hvebelianovich, Lazarovich, 

325 
Hyde, W. D., 271 
Hydroplane at Chautauqua, 

326 
Hymn of Greeting, 105 

lUxmiinated Fleet, 85 
International Lyceum and 
Chautauqua Association, 

331, 385 
Island Park Assembly, 381 

Jacobs, W. S., 348 
James, Bishop, 55 



Jamestown, 9 
Jay, John, 246 

Jefferson, C. E., 274, 279, 310 
Jefferson, Joseph, 284 
Jerome, W. T., 298 
Jerusalem, model of, 66 
Jewett Home, 229 
Johnson, R. M., 241 
Jones, S. P., 234 
Jordan, D. S., 318 
Joslin, J. L., 293 
Journalism, school of, 246 
Juvenile problems, 301 

Keen, W. W., 181 
Keller, Helen, 265 
Kellogg, J. H., 239 
Kennedy, C. R., 334 
Kent, C. F., 330 
Kidd, Thomas, 290 
Kimball, Kate F., 146 
Kindergarten, 179 
King, H. C, 280 
Knox, W. E., 84 
Kraus-Boelte, Mme., 179 
Kriege, Mme., 67 

Labor movement, 287 
La FoUette, R. M., 291, 389 
Lake Bluff Assembly, 367 
Lakeside Assembly, 366 
Language clubs, 260 
Languages, school of, 160 
La Salle, R. R., 7 
Lathbury, Mary A., 105, 128, 

201, 202 
Lattimore, the Misses, 137 
Lavell, C. F., 300, 307 
Lawyers' club, 261 
League of Nations, 353 
Lee, J. W., 230 
Lees, G. R., 331 
Lemon, J. B., 313 
Library school, 283 
Lindsay, Vachel, 349 
Lindsey, B. B., 302 
Liquor Problem, the, 289 
Little, C. J., 210, 221, 234 
Livermore, Mary A., 77, 229, 

250 



426 



INDEX 



Lord, John, 138, 167 
Lore, C. B., 290 
Lutheran House, 280 

Mabie, H. W., 246, 334 

MacArthur, R. S., xvi, 284, 307 

MacGerald, Samuel, 53 

McCabe, Bishop, 234, 271 

McClintock, Belle, 22 1 

McClintock, W. D., 187 

McClure, S. S., 310 

McClure, W. F., 348 

McConnell, Bishop, 333, 349 

McCormick, S. B., 333, 360 

McDowell, Bishop, 303, 320, 
360 

McFadyen, J. E., 305 

McFarland,J.T., 299 

McGlynn, Edward, 249 

Mclntyre, Bishop, 274 

McKenzie, A., 246 

McKinley, President, 267 

McLean, Mrs. Donald, 300 

McMaster, J. B., 250 

McNeill, John, 284 

Mahaffy, J. P., 240 

Manual training, 283 

Masey organ, the, 253 

Mather, Mary M., 252 

Mathews, Shailer, 269, 303, 
316, 327, 348, 360 

Mayville, 9 

Means, J. O., 181 

Men's club, the, 254 

Meredith, R. R., 181 

Merrill, W. P., 353 

Methodist House, 237 

Meyer, Mrs. L. R., 106 

Milbum, W. H., 229 

Miller, Mrs. E. H., 62, 108, 256 

Miller, H. A., 355 

Miller, J. D., 265 

Miller, Lewis, birth and educa- 
tion, 18; business training, 
18; inventions, 19; home at 
Akron, 19; normal class, 19; 
meeting with Dr. Vincent, 
20; visit to Chautauqua 
Lake, 24; cottage at Chau- 
tauqua, 41; location of As- 



sembly, 57; Children's Tem- 
ple, 139; work at Chautau- 
qua, 141 ; plans for C.L.S.C., 
170; building the hotel, 173; 
illness and death, 275; me- 
morial salute, 112, 356; 
Memorial Tower, 313 

Miller Park, 196 

Miller, Theodore, 276 

Milner, D. C, 192, 377 

Miner, Maud, 324, 352 

Mineral spring, 256 

Minton, T. M., 348 

Mitchel, J. P., 329 

Mitchell, Bishop, 342 

Mitchell, D. G., 240 

Mitchell, John, 287, 322 

Mob spirit, the, 290 

Moffatt, J. D., 307 

Monona Lake Assembly, 382 

Montgomery, Mrs. H. B., 360 

Moore, H. H., 222 

Moore, R. W., 314 

Moran, T. F., 352 

Mothers' congress, 267 

Moulton, J. H., 330 

Moulton, R. G., 264, 267, 284, 
291 

Moxom, P. D., 263 

Munger, S. F., 257 

Murphy, Francis, loi 

Music, 89 

Music club, 261 

Music, school of, 244 

National Congress of Mothers, 
267 

National Education Associa- 
tion, 178 

Nearing, Scott, 319, 321 

New England Assembly, 383 

Newman, Bishop, 227 

Newton, Richard, 85 

New York Symphony Orches- 
tra, 354, 358 

Ng Poon Chew, 325 

Niles, W. H., 207 

Normal Alumni, 108 

Normal class, 51, 67, 209 

Normal examination, 53, 84 



INDEX 



427 



Ocean Grove Assembly, 379 
Octogenarians' club, 262 
Odell, B. B., 284 
Officers of First Assembly, 38 
Oldham, Bishop, 287, 293 
O'Neill, J. D., 334 
Opening service, 49 
Oriental museum, 231 
Origin of name Chautauqua, 

93 

Osborne, Dennis, 221 
Osborne, T. M., 334 
Ottawa (Kansas) Assembly, 
373 

Pacific Grove Assembly, 380 
Page, T. N., 246 
Pageant of the Past, 311 
Palace Hotel, the, 99, 174 
Palestine, early model of, 13 
Palestine Park, 46, 170, 255 
Palmer, Mrs. Alice F., xv, 246, 

263 
Palmer, A. J., 222, 263 
Palmer, A. M., 354 
Palmer, G. H., 263 
Palmer, H. R., 251 
"Pansy" (Mrs. G. R. Alden), 

71 

Pansy class, 235 
Papot, Benedict, 330 
Parker, F. W., xiv, 248 
Parry, D. M., 290 
Pattison, R. E., 222 
Pavilion, the, 124 
Payne, C. H., 86 
Peabody, F. G., 260, 267 
Pearse, M. G., 234 
Peary, R. E., 341 
Peary, Mrs. R. E., 269 
Peck, Bishop, 85 
Pedagogy, hall of, 273 
Pedagogy, school of, 248 
Pennypacker, Mrs. P. V., 256, 

287 325, 340, 346 
Percival, Rev. Dr., 250 
Perrine, W. H., 171, 364 
Perry, Bliss, 280 
Phelps, W. F., 162 
Phillips, Philip, 104 



Pickett, Mrs. General, 303 

Pier building, 228 

Playgrounds, 259 

Point Chautauqua, 94 

Pond, J. B., 267 

Powers, H. H., 315, 318, 322 

Powers, Leland, 243, 274, 284, 

298 
Post office building, 308 
Potter, Bishop, 302 3 
Prendergast, W. H., 317 
Presbrey, O. F., 70 
Presbyterian House, 245 
Presidents at Chautauqua, x 
Press club, 261 
Procession, Recognition Day, 

204 

Ragan, H. H., 221 
Ramsay, William, 312 
Randolph, Warren, 83 
Ransom, W. L., 334 
Raymond, A. V. V., xii 
Raymond, C. R., 331 
Recognition Day, the first, 

196 
Religious teaching, school of, 

278^ 
Repplier, Agnes, 249 
Review of Reviews, xi 
Rhees, Rush, 298 
Rice, W. M., 138 
Richards, W. C, 210 
Richardson, C. F., 187 
Riddle, George, 231, 236, 243, 

307 
Rns, J. A., 250, 272, 296, 315 
Robins, Raymond, 289, 336 
Robinson, Mrs. Douglas, 359 
Rockefeller, J. D., 351 
Roman year, the, 225 
Roosevelt, President, x, 247, 

258, 264, 276, 295, 316 
Rose, H. R., 315 
Roselli, Bruno, 347 
Ross, G. A. J., 313 
Round Lake Assembly, 44, 45, 

370 
Russian symphony orchestra, 

335, 337, 341 



428 



INDEX 



Sadler, C, 53 

St. Paul's Grove, 137 

Sanders, F. R., 310 

Sanders, H. M., 82 

Sargent, F. P., 287 

Schafif, Philip, 188 

Schmucker, S. C, 299, 315 

Schurman, J. G., 251 

Scientific Conference, 73 

Seton, E. T., 300 

Sewer system, 255 

Shaw, Anna H., 250, 271, 346 

Shedlock, Miss M. L., 294 

Sheldon, CM., xvi 

Sherwin, W. F., 41, 68, 202 

Sherwood, 244, 316 

Signal Fires, 299 

Simpson, Bishop, 55 

Simpson, W. O., 165 

Slosson, E. E., xi, 336 

Smith, F. H., 299 

Smith, G. A., 269, 279, 294 

Smith, S. S., 221 

Snowden, Mrs. Philip, 306, 

312 
Snyder, Jacob, 20 
Socialism, 321 
Social unrest, 302 
Somerset, Lady Henry, 264 
Southwick, H. L., 294 
Southwick, Mrs. J. E., 272 
Sparks, E. E., 309 
Spouting tree, 99 
Stagg, A. A., 238 
Standard Oil Co., 180 
Standards of Time, 59 
Stanley, F. G., 293 
Starr, Frederick, 240, 294 
Steamboats, 58 
Steiner, E. A., 300 
Stelzle, Charles, 302, 307 
Stevens, Lillian M. N., 290 
Stokes, J. G. P., 302 
Stokes, Rose P., 302, 322 
Stone, J. T., 316 
Street, J. R., 278 
Streets at Chautauqua, 91 
Strong, James, 125 
Strong, Josiah, 267 
Stuart, E. G., 307 



Stuntz, Bishop, 293 
Summer schools, 162 
Sunday at Chautauqua, 55, 56 
Sunday school lessons, 16, 278 
Sunday school normal depart- 
ment, 17, 88, 195 
Sunday school parliament, 362 
Sunday school union, 28 
Swing, David, 241 
Symphony orchestra, 309, 312, 

335, 337i 341, 354, 358 

Taft, President, 294 
Talmage, T. DeW., 55, 207, 

235 

Tanner, Corporal, 240 

Tarbell, Ida, 339 
Taylor, Alfred, 81 
Taylor, Graham, 264, 272, 280 
Taylor, R. L., 276 
Taylor, Bishop, 236 
Teacher's retreat, 161 
Temperance Congress, 76 
Tennesseans, the, 221 
Testimonies to Chautauqua, 

vii-xix 
Thirkield, Bishop, 274 
Thobrom, Bishop, 281 
Thobrom, J. M., Jr., 310 
Ticket system, 96 
Tiffany, O. H., 86 
Tourgee, A. W., 210 
Tourjee, Eben, 68 
Towle, G. M., 221 
Townsend, L. T., 85, 130 
Traction station, 343 
Truett, G. W., 331 
Trumbull, H. C, 55 
Tuthill, Miss, 221 
Tyler, M. C, 280 

Underbill, C. F., 236, 274 
Union class building, 223 
Unitarian House, 286 
United Presbyterian Chapel, 
248 

Vail, A. D., 198, 207 
Vail, S. M., 67, 154 
Vanderlip, F. A., 315 



INDEX 



429 



Van Lennep, A. O., 83 

Vesper service, 168 

Vigil, the, 193 

Vincent, B. T., 87, 357, 366 

Vincent Mrs. Ella, 256, 340, 

358 
Vincent, G. E., 24, 227, 237, 

272, 281, 300-302, 309, 3i5» 

324, 332, 335» 343 
Vincent, Mrs. G. E., 344 
Vincent, H. B., 323 

iVinnpTTt,, BisVinp J. "^jy ances- 
tors, II; birthplace, 12; 
marriage, 14; first visit to 
Chautauqua, 24; consecrated 
\ bishop, 237; Episcopal resi- 
dence, 272; visit at Chautau- 
qua, 284; retirement, 286; 
cablegram, 288; lectures, 
300, 303, 305; sermon, 327; 
last visit, 343 ; his death, 355 ; 
memorial service, 357 
Vincent, L. H., 207, 236, 246, 

274, 299, 307, 319, 348 
Vitale, Giuseppe, 188 
Von Hoist, Herman, 264 
Von Suttner, Baroness, 318 
Votan, C. W., 310 

War, the Great, 321, 338 
Wadsworth, James, 302 
Wallace, Chancellor, 278 
Wallace, Lew, 230 
Ward, E. J., 333 
Ward, Mrs. L. A., 336 
Ward, W. H., 187 
Warren, Bishop, 55, 83, 167, 

204 
Warren, W. F., 132, 230 
Washington, B. T., 269, 310 
Watchom, Robert, 298 
Watkinson, W. L., 305 
Wattles, J. D., 83 
Wayland, H. L., 246 
Weigle,L.A.,346,353,358 



Welch, Bishop, 298, 311, 357 
Wendling, J. W., 167 
Wheeler, A. M., 227 
Wheeler, B. I., 280 
White, A. D., 251 
Whitman, C. S., 336 
Whittier, J. G., xviii 
Why and Wherefore, vii-xix 
Wickersham, G. W., 317, 339 
Wiggin, Mrs. Kate D., 263 
Wilcox, Mrs. P. B., 257 
Wiley, H. W., 305 
Wilkinson, W. C, 125 
Willard, Miss Frances E., 76, 

250, 264 
Willett,H. L.,311 
Willetts, A. A., 188 
WiUiams, Bishop, 280, 298, 

313, 323, 341 
Willing, Mrs. J. F. 
Wilson, Francis, 281, 312 
Winchester, C. T., 229, 266, 

279 
Wines, P. H., 290 
Winter, Mrs. T. G., 360 
Wirt, Lincoln, 333 
Wishart, C. P., 322, 331, 352 
Woelfkin, ComeHus, 359 
Wolsey, Louis, 359 
Woman's Christian Temper- 
ance Union, 61, 178, 222 
Woman's club, the, 256 
Woman suffrage, 319 
Women at Chautauqua, 77 
Woodruff, G. W., 84 
Worden, J. A., 70, 84, 86, 365 
Wright, C. D., 264, 267 
Yale Glee Club, 221 
Young, J. B., 221 
Young woman's camp, 344 
Young woman's club, 259 
Youth's C.L.S.C. Paper, 221 

Zeublin, Charles, 287, 358 
Zionism, 354 



j 



W92 








^<^^ 




e D 























!pV\ 





%^5^\o^^ \--?^\/ ^^^^^.O^"^ \^\ 

^' ^^ ^'*:^^%"- ./V^<X oO^^;.^^^-o 




%^ 













"oy 







^^^^^^ 





%. * > ■ • • • 'VS £\ V 







.0- 














Ho^ 







^MrS 



H'^^ 




• w 










» N 








*^ ^,f. 



4 o^ 





^ '^^..♦^ /^^; v./ ^^^^^^^ ^- '^^ 







» 







• # 1 





« D O 



O M 




















« • « 














j,^'>. 



WERT 
BOOKBINDING 

GranfviHe. Pa. 
iuly-August 1988 

Wt rt Oulhly Bound 









o M a 



"^.^-^ 






•1°,«. 



^o 








